Generations
by H. B. Dragonheart
Summary: A case of mistaken identity leads a friend of Link's into the deadliest of danger. When the Fierce Deity's on your trail, where can you turn? (Ch14: pt 4 of 4: WiP)
1. Prologue: Counterpoints

**Generations**  
_Part 4 of 'The Hero's Many Faces'_

Usual applies here. I don't own the Zelda games (like that's not totally obvious) - however, some of the characters here are mine. Hands off them - got it? You'll see who when they come up. 

-- 

**_Introduction: Counterpoints_**

-- 

_Funny thing, life. It's a cliche, yeah, but it's true._

_One day, you're just some normal kid, trying your best to avoid flunking class and still have some form of existence outside the dreaded halls of school. A normal, everyday life, filled with normal, everyday things. Enough said.  
The next, you're fighting for your life every time you leave your home, dreaming you're a Fierce Deity - what do I mean, dreaming? - searching for some sword that isn't even supposed to exist. In other words, you're a hero. No, scratch that. Put a capital letter on it.  
Sound stupid? Man, you haven't heard the last of it.   
Wait. None of this sounds familiar? Where have you been? Never heard of it. This is Hyrule.  
Okay, let me try and recap world history for you. Doubt I'll have much luck. I nearly failed History class. But still..._

_I'll start, oh, two thousand years ago. That's when this all started (though someone I know would no doubt disagree, he's not here). An Evil King tried to take over the world... so you know his name! (Or should I say 'its...')_ _Heck, even now I can't say it.   
Still, he/it was eventually beaten - the calendar starts at the date of these Imprisoning Wars, so you can tell how important they were - only to return every few hundred years. And to be defeated again. In that time, this country changed a lot - races were driven into hiding, geography and rule shifted - but it still remained technologically the same.  
About 500 years ago, that changed. The boffins, like one of my best friends, call it the Renaissance. (Hope I spelt that right). Things really began to change then. Science took over from magic. No-one really cared about random wand waving any more, when they could put numbers and results onto things... (Hah! Serves 'em right...)  
Four hundred years back was the end of the Hyrulian royal family. (They say.) A revolution wiped all traces of the king of the time away. Can't help wonder what he did - or what idea came up that would make him seem so evil... worse than the real Evil King of the past?  
250 years ago - someone came up with the idea of Industry. The books call it the Technological Revolution. And the world never looked back. Wars became less and less common - they still occurred occasionally, but that's just people. Nation grew closer to nation; the other peoples, other than 'homo something' I mean, came out of hiding. They even established permanent contact with other worlds - my mother remembers when they set up the Termina-Hyrule Expressway. But somehow, I can't see anything so strange in it, for all the boffins talk about it being theoretically impossible... It's no different than going for a plane ride.  
(Sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to be rude...)_

_So. This is the world we live in - lived in. One where a plane flight from Kakariko to Horon takes three hours; one where I can chat to my friend in Calatia without worrying that it's something like 8pm there and 11am here. One that seemed to work perfectly.  
Note the 'seemed to'.  
And this is where my story begins._

_Oh - wait! I didn't tell you my name, did I? It's Link Hunter._

_Yeah. You heard me. Link._

_-_

_Life's a strange thing. Two thousand years, and I've never changed my mind about that much._

_One day, you're a normal child. You don't think you're anyone special. But the next - you're a hero... beyond that. You discover the truth about yourself. And see that you were never normal.  
That you were never, indeed, truly human. I am not. I am known as the Fierce Deity - the guardian of Time itself. (Even if today, those names mean nothing but a myth.) I protect the course of history - and the lives of those who must live in it._

_This all starts - as far as I am concerned - two thousand years ago. My birth - or rebirth into a mortal form, the physical body I have borne for virtually two millennia and will as long as I exist. The battles of the Hero of Time - as I was known then. And the first ascension of the Evil King, Ganon. The beginning of a cycle that would blight Hyrule for centuries to come. That monster - my oldest enemy - has made his return on four separate occasions following that. And to fight him... I could not. I am as much a creature of darkness as he is. If I were to combat Ganon, it would do no good. To that end, the Heroes of legend were born - created by fate itself, it seems, the force that moves even ones such as myself. Only now, after so long, do I realise the truth that lay behind every link in the chain, and will do so into eternity...  
Yet - this world I protect - is not the one I was born to. Worlds are like bubbles in a river. Sometimes they merge, flow apart - and pop. My home, my timeline, was swallowed by the one that now exists. No records remain of what I remember as happening two millennia ago. (Virtually none, anyway - the influence of my actions remains. You may have heard of Labrynna and Holodrum's Oracles. But I know who they really were.) And my memory is one of those that was lost. My history no longer exists. They remember the Hero of Time, it is true - but never now its Guardian, except in the sketchiest of legends.  
I have hidden myself in the course of history. You see me now? I take a lot of hiding, it's true. Over the course of the centuries, I have acquired abilities that not even my natural powers - considerable in their own right - granted me. A warrior with many faces, I have learnt to assume forms more fitting to mortal kind - even if I cannot shake every trace of my true nature. A mirror will always reflect my true face, even if the human eye refuses to. I can never ignore who I am. Yet why should I? I have always been there, the silent protector of the infinities. Two worlds are only connected now, the twin worlds Termina and Hyrule, because I have left that one portal open between them. Not even the scientists of this age understand it. Nor the magical technologists._

_Sorry. I must have forgotten to give you my name. Oni'kara. To most people, just Oni.   
But the historians would be happier to call me Link._

-- 

A/N: Part _four_?! I can't believe it myself...  
Anyway - I'm _back_! Miss me? :p I'm sorry it's been so long. It's been hard to get going on this story. I'll apologise in advance in case the updates are a bit irregular.  



	2. New Beginnings

**Generations**

-- 

**_Chapter 1: New Beginnings_**

-- 

_Hyrule: 2000 years later_

-- 

_...Two warriors watch each other's moves intently. The young swordsman leaps into battle, silver blade flashing in the light... but his opponent is not to be taken down so easily. She darts out of the reach of his sword, and fires a blast of the purest magic into his face... It's all over, as he plummets helplessly from the edge of the cliff..._

"Game over! And you said I couldn't do it..."  
"You bet? Best of three," Link Hunter grinned, shaking the games console's controller. "You're going down..."  
"Oh, yeah?" his sister laughed back.  
"Yeah, Zelda! You're asking for it! You were just lucky, that's all. Just lucky." He glared in mock anger.  
"That wasn't luck, Link. That was skill. Admit it." But by this point, neither player was in any fit state to continue. Zelda began to giggle. "Aw, you should have seen the expression on your face! You looked like..."  
He threw up his hands. "I don't want to know. Just... don't start. Otherwise..."  
"Otherwise what?"  
"Stop it!" Link burst out, laughing out loud. "Otherwise - this!" He picked up a cushion off the couch, and threw it at her. Cracking up, she chucked it back.  
"Shame there's no 'Cushion Attack' in that game, right..."  
"Nah. You need to use the other characters for that," Link grinned, dodging his sister's bombardment. "Try playing as that thing that looks like a marshmallow on legs..."  
"No way! You're only saying that 'cause I was beating you to a pulp..."  
"Oh, yeah?"  
"Yeah!"  
The sibling rivalry continued as the video game lay unplayed and unregarded. 

"You - what are you two up to now?" a voice interrupted. Link and Zelda whipped round and tried to look innocent.  
"Uh - Mum?" they chorused.  
"Don't you have homework to do?" A round of groans met their mother's comment. "You know what your teachers are saying about you, Link."  
He went red. "Yeah..." he sighed. "Don't tell me. Mr. Carter's been sending angry letters about me again, right?"  
"I wouldn't say angry. More concerned."  
"You don't hear him in class," Link muttered. "He doesn't even get my name right. And he's had me in his class for six years."  
"That's as may be. But you're in danger of failing your History exams this year."  
"They're not for ages! Come on, we're only two months into the school year..." he complained, half-seriously. "And besides, it's not like they count for anything."  
"You could be held back a grade..."  
"They can't do that. Already started the work for next year. And besides, it's only History - they can't hold me back over one class!"  
His mother sighed. "I guess not. But you worry me sometimes." She reached down and switched the console off. "So..."  
Grumbling almost inaudibly, Link left. Zelda shortly followed her brother away. "You're lucky," he remarked to her. "You don't have to put up with this lot yet."  
"You've forgotten what last year was like already? You were all over the place... how did you cope?" she half-laughed.  
"I didn't. That's why I'm flunking History." 

- 

The traveller sped along the near-silent road. Gravel spluttered under the wheels of his motorcycle, and a long snowy braid flicked up behind him from under his helmet. He preferred being alone, sometimes - his normal condition, in many ways. There, at least, he could escape the chaos of the modern world.  
_Chaos_. He laughed. That would have in some ways been better than the hyper-organisation he faced so often, where all so often he was asked for proof of an identity that could never be proved and that he spent most of his existence hiding. After all, in a forgotten language, that was exactly what his name meant - if anyone had known it. Yet - in this day and age - so much had been forgotten. The old struggles for survival, when Hyrule and Termina, all the worlds, had been in constant conflict between light and dark - those were all but a myth.   
_Perhaps peace has finally come_, he thought. _If not peace, then balance_. As if to back up his thoughts, he banked the cycle around a tight corner -   
Losing control. 

His head began to spin. _No... why... why now? _Other senses than those traditionally expected began to scream. The rider came crashing off the cycle, which skidded away almost unharmed into the mud. Although the impact hurt, it was nothing to him. What was causing the agony was deep inside, trapped in his heart.  
Unsteadily, he got to his feet. He sighed, and pulled the black and silver helmet off for a moment. 

Rubbing at his shining-white eyes, he tried to calm the lightning-bolt fury inside his mind.  
One thought occupied him more than the others.  
_You total fool, Oni'kara...  
How could you let this happen?_

Not the motorcycle accident.   
That was only to be expected when he had felt something go wrong with reality. 

- 

Link held his head in his hands and groaned. There was something wrong with reality, he decided. There had to be something wrong with anything that could only be explained using such nonsense as 'dee-ex by dee-why equals ex cubed'. Mathematics was never his strong point. He wouldn't have studied it, given half a choice. But at least doing it kept him away from the lurking History homework that his mother had warned him about. He'd liked the subject once, but that was back in the days when it seemed to mean something. When it was still history and not politics. Now, anything was better than learning about the ideological nonsense that had lead to Hyrule's Revolution of 1546.  
Even the legitimate excuse of struggling with algebra ran out eventually. Muttering to himself, he fished the textbooks from a lost homework graveyard and began to flip through the pages. There were bookmarks in here somewhere, he knew. 

The phone rang. From his bedroom, Link could hear Zelda sprinting down the stairs to get it.   
"Oh... hi, dad..." She paused. "It's for you, Link..."  
He groaned. "Fine. Coming." Reluctantly, he wandered down, letting out a sigh as he took the handset off Zelda. "Yeah? What is it?"  
"No 'hey?' " his father's voice asked, trying to sound light-hearted.  
"I'm busy here," Link stated in a monotone.  
A sigh. "Link... forget it."   
"Fine. "  
"Wait - "   
"_What?_" he snapped.  
"I know you're still angry at me... " his father started, realising as he did that they were the wrong words to use. Telling somebody they were angry would only make matters worse.  
"No, I'm not." _I'm furious._ "_Bye._" There was steel in his voice.  
"Link!" The only answer on the other end of the line was a single click and a humming tone. 

Zelda looked round in shock. "What was that about?" she asked, surprised. Her brother only shrugged and marched upstairs. 

Even History essays sounded better than explaining what had happened. Flicking the computer's 'on' switch, he quietly cursed under his breath. _You didn't need to go and disturb me like that, dad. I know what you were going to say. Same old story. I've heard it about a million times. Not going to be back. Blah. Poking holes in the universe is too damn important. Blah, blah..._

- 

Robert Hunter sighed as he hung the phone up. "Stop doing this to me, Link," he muttered, thinking of the acid in his son's tones. "I couldn't help it." Shaking his head, he turned back towards the banks of computer systems and expensive equipment that lined the laboratory. If he hadn't been cut off so sharply, the reason for his call would have become clear - he wasn't coming home tonight. That in itself wasn't unusual, and he suspected Link would have worked out the reason on his own. The experiment had reached a critical phase. If the dark-matter fusion they had pioneered here - or predicted, anyway - worked, it could mean a breakthrough in theory.  
On the other hand, they could equally get nowhere. The latter option seemed to be the more likely at the moment. The dials and meters refused resolutely to move. Resigned, Dr. Hunter picked up a cup of coffee so cold it defied the laws of thermodynamics, took a quick mouthful, and settled down to watch and wonder what was going wrong. He picked up a dog-eared notebook, and tried to find where the problems lay. _No... no... that's okay... that worked... wait. _He paused, seeing a glaring error on the page. "I'm out by a factor of ten. If I..." he muttered, and carefully adjusted a dial. The new setting would either blow the equipment, or produce a perfect result. But it was the only chance to make this work. 

Slowly, he counted down under his breath.   
On 'three', the console exploded. He leapt under a desk and swore. Slowly, the smoke cleared. Coughing, he looked around. _That wasn't supposed to happen. _

What he saw came as even more of a shock. Ruined machinery was the first thing that caught his attention - but his mind had no time to dwell on it.   
Rather, the focus was on what looked like a tear, lightning-edged, in the air in front of him.  
And something coming through. 

- 

The motorcycle picked up speed again. Its rider had very little need of that sort of transportation, it was true - but it sometimes helped. It was only one part of his careful camouflage. Anyone watching the figure speeding away would have hardly seen past the illusion he projected, that of a young man just on the edge of his teenage years, though still white-haired. Long ago, Oni had realised that most humans would only regard him with fear if they saw him as he really was. It was a fact that had become more and more obvious over the centuries, more and more painful. In this technological society, an armoured warrior was hardly welcome.   
Sometimes, the worlds had no love for their guardian. Though sometimes he resented the role he was forced to play, a little deception was often the only way he could blend in. A little subtle shape-shifting magic, too. A natural eight foot height was usually replaced by just over six where there was a risk of being seen. 

Not that, when it came down to it, what he looked like really mattered. Only what he was there for - protecting the physical worlds. This time, however, he was sure he had gone wrong. Still quietly cursing his over-confidence, Oni'kara gave the throttle an angry yank and sped onwards.  
_Next stop - Kakariko City. There's something happening there. Felt like - someone's opened a gateway? Why didn't I think... ha. Two thousand years, and I'm getting careless. Then again, no-one believes in magic any more - I wasn't to expect this!  
Unless it's not magic..._

- 

Link's head began to swim. The computer screen seemed to spin in front of his eyes, blurring his essay into a mess of words. _It was already, but this is stupid... stuff this. I'll have to come up with an excuse in the morning ...Morning? Oh, man. I've got to get some sleep. _

He virtually collapsed into bed, falling into unconsciousness within seconds.  
Of a sort, anyway. 

_...The sky flickers with lightning. A great shadow bears down over him, taking the form of a monster. He steps back in alarm, as the shadow begins to laugh... and speak, in a low rumble, almost animal... "We meet again!"... It slashes forward with a giant sword, aiming for the point where he stands... There is no way to escape...  
Except one..._

"Wha?!" He bolted awake. _What was that about?_ Link wondered. _Haven't had a creepy dream like that since I was ten..._ He glanced at his clock. The alarm was going to go off in a minute anyway. And anyway, there wasn't a chance he was going to be able to sleep after something like that. He wandered, eyes half-shut, towards the bathroom. 

"Watch it!" his sister snapped as he walked straight into her.  
"Huh? Sorry, Zel... I'm not together yet..."  
"I figured that out. What were you yelling about?"  
Link started to turn red. "Nothing."  
"Yeah. Loud nothing."  
He paused. "Nightmare," he mumbled.  
She looked straight at him. "You _too_?" 

-- 

A/N: Here we go again... well, couldn't stay away, could I?   
Shorter chapters and more of them may be likely this time round. (MS Word has been having fits. I can't get the word counter to work... good job my HTML editor is still OK.) Well, until I get going anyway.  



	3. Urban Legends

**Generations**

-- 

**_Chapter 2: Urban Legends_**

-- 

_Freedom! Trapped in that netherworld for an accursed eternity. Now - I make my escape. But the world looks different to how it was when I was - alive... no matter.   
I am weakened... almost human again. But I will reclaim my power soon. And the world that is rightfully mine.  
I believe I have one servant here already... who freed me? Is that him? A Hylian - ah, the irony is delicious!_

Dr. Hunter took a step back at the sight of the apparition emerging from the void. "What... what are you?" He turned for the door, hoping to look for help.  
_Come back. You will obey me. _The words seemed to ignore his ears and grab his heart directly. _You will tell no others. Yet_.  
He didn't feel like he could, anyway. "Fine..." he stuttered, trying to remain calm. "And who is it I'm supposed to be 'obeying', anyway?"  
_Ah... yes. You may refer to me as your master.   
_The apparition began to condense, through the form of a minotaur-like creature, to a more human figure - although that was still only approximate. A three-dimensional shimmer on the air delineated the shape of a tall, proud man in heavy black and brown armour. One thing was clear, though. His eyes burned red.   
At last, his words were vocalised. "My name? Now, as it was at the beginning ...Ganondorf. King of the darkness." 

The scientist tried to remain calm, without much success. He was hallucinating, he rationalised. "I'm not calling anyone master. And I don't listen to ghosts." He saw the spectral figure's eyes grow wide at the impudence. It did nothing - had nothing it could do - however, and he walked away. 

_What's going on here? I must have knocked my head when the console blew up. 'Cause I can't have just seen a... Stop that, Rob. There's got to be a logical explanation.  
I just wish I knew what it was._

It was well past midnight by the time the car pulled into the driveway. Everyone else was asleep. As he walked upstairs, he could hear Link yelling in his dreams. It probably wasn't a good idea to get involved. 

- 

"Yeah, it's weird, but it's only a dream."  
"You say that, Zelda... I don't even dream, most of the time. Only when I've been stuffing my face the night before," an uncertain Link remarked as they followed each other down the stairs to the kitchen. "And how often... don't even say it. Point is... never mind." He wasn't quite sure just how much he could talk to his sister about it without sounding whinging. Never mind his parents. Sophia Hunter would just mutter 'that's nice, dear' - and his father would say even less. "Just a dream. Right." 

Later, and still slightly foggy, Link stared out of the window of the school bus. He'd never believed that dreams had any meaning. But last night - it must have done, for all that he had stopped discussing it quickly. Something like that didn't happen for no reason. It wasn't like he'd been thinking about monsters. He hadn't even touched any video games or movies that had them in. It had just jumped out of his subconscious. Zelda's, too, if he'd understood what she had said correctly... why?  
A friend's voice brought him crashing down to earth. "You got that essay done, right?"  
He looked round, shocked. "Aw, crud! I completely forgot. Well... when I say forgot..."  
His friend grinned. "Yeah. The dog ate it, while you were recovering from an alien abduction after getting run over by a rocket powered car. Copy mine. It's last thing, anyway. Plenty of time." He pulled a couple of pages out from the bottom of his bag.  
"Thanks, but. I think Carter is going to spot that an essay of mine has 'Ralph Marshall' written all over it. You know what happened last time you copied my homework and we were caught... it was okay for you, you had a soccer match with the school team, but..."  
"I was in detention the next day. Wasn't an excuse. I got chewed up when I got home, too. Dad was all, 'you know I expect more from you...' and funny looks, too."  
"At least yours gives a damn. Mine doesn't care about anything that doesn't involve atoms..." Link remarked - but with an edge in his voice.  
"Do I smell a rant coming on?"  
"Well, maybe."  
Ralph groaned. He'd heard this too many times before. As far as he was concerned, Link should try having parents over his back all the time. It was no improvement. 

Link picked it up quickly, and changed the topic back again. "...I think I'll just get some earplugs from the science lab and take my chances with the wrath of 'Sir'. I'm dead here. I don't want it to be game over for you too, buddy."  
"The melodramatic thing doesn't suit you," Ralph grinned. "Detention is not death."  
"Oh, yeah?"  
"Nah! It's worse, definitely."  
Link glared back. "Thanks a lot. You're such a help." He returned to staring vaguely out the window again, before changing his focus to a slightly more attractive prospect than endless suburban roads and grey city streets. She sat two seats in front of him and was completely unaware of his presence. She was just a friend, that was all. But... one day...  
"Cckk..." Ralph imitated a microphone, spotting his friend's expression glazing over. "Earth to Link. Come in, Link. Arrival at destination imminent. ...What's up with you, anyway?"  
"Nothing, bud. Just... one of those days." They scrambled off the bus, trying to avoid the crowd of younger pupils who seemed all too eager to get to their new high school. It was only October, and for them it was still a novelty. Not so for a thoroughly bored Link. All he knew was that if he had any excuse to get out of the same dull routine it couldn't come too soon. "See ya later..." 

- 

The school day wore on, leading inevitably to an unwelcome end. Link found himself wishing more and more that he hadn't tried to be a martyr with every passing lesson. For one moment, he wondered whether the penalty for cutting History would be worse than that for forgetting the essay - but, he decided, at least this way he only had one teacher to face.   
In the end, the class had trouble settling down to work, despite Mr. Carter's best efforts to control the young people sick of sitting in the stuffy classroom. "Stop it!" the teacher snapped. "I saw that look! Christine, Holly, you two stop talking, I didn't need to know that... Everyone, just listen!" It took a few moments for quiet to take hold. "Now, I hope we've all remembered the homework..." The teacher moved stealthily along the row of desks.   
  
"Ah, yes. Lincoln." _You got it wrong again, sir... Have you got an allergy to my name, or something? Do you know something here I don't? _He groaned. This didn't seem like such a good idea after all. No-one else seemed to have forgotten. "I can only wait to hear what gem you've come up with this time. Now, let me see... I haven't heard 'my dog ate it' for a long time..."  
Link only muttered a vague 'sorry' under his breath.  
"That's not good enough! Detention, Hunter. After school. See me here." _Well, using my surname's an improvement on totally fluffing it..._  
"Yessir..." he groaned, before reluctantly beginning to copy notes off the board. Uncomfortable, he was sure he could feel someone looking at him and smirking. He could guess who it was. His worst enemy. 

- 

The corridors of Kakariko University's vast scientific research department echoed to one person's footsteps. It shouldn't have been this quiet, Robert thought, making his way quickly back to his almost destroyed laboratory. He could only hope that he hadn't been reported over the incident. It was one thing to see his theories go up in literal smoke. Another to see his career follow it. 

He turned down a side passage, and punched in the keycode for the door. Everything was as he had left it, he saw with a mixture of relief and dismay.  
Including - the scientist swallowed - the same apparition he had put down to a hallucination.  
"Where were you? How dare you desert me?" Ganondorf roared. Dr. Hunter took a step back. "Come here! I have a task for you, Hylian."  
The archaic term was hardly familiar. "It doesn't matter if I'm Hylian or not. I'm a scientist. And you shouldn't exist, if there is any logic left in the world."  
"Logic does not matter! You were the one who brought me here - you can repeat yourself, correct?"  
He swallowed. "That's the problem. When I - ah - brought you here..." 

- 

In time honoured fashion, detention dragged unbearably. It felt like time had stopped. _Worse than death. Yeah. At least when you're dead, you're not bored._ Link's hand felt cramped from all the lines upon lines he was writing. While the teacher's back was turned, he stretched it out, trying to rub the ache out. Somehow, it wasn't so much a pain in his fingers that was bothering him. It seemed to be coming more from an unusual birthmark he'd always had there. Three triangles, surprisingly regular for something apparently natural. For some reason they'd been getting darker recently. Maybe, he thought, he should see a doctor about it. Probably nothing, though.  
"Lincoln! Stop staring at the back of your hand and get writing!"  
His patience was getting short. It was worth a try - again - seeing as he was already in trouble. "Sir, you keep getting it wrong - that's _not_ my _name_."  
"I don't call my students by nicknames. I've told you that a thousand times."  
"It's not a nickname, sir! It's on my birth certificate, and everything... ask my parents... I thought it was on all the files!"   
Mr. Carter paused. "Fine. Maybe it is. But I'm not calling any student of mine _that_ while he's still slacking behind. Get back to work."   
_What did he mean by that? _Link wondered. Again, he had the uneasy feeling that the teacher knew something he didn't. _Duh, it's his job._ Sighing inaudibly, he continued to write. 

Eventually, the clock made its way round for long enough. The teacher glanced over. "Okay. You can go. But it's the same again if you turn up on Monday without your essay. Understand?"  
"Yes, sir..." Link groaned, virtually running out the door.   
Inside seemed better than out, however. Clouds were starting to gather. If he was any judge, a storm was on the way. As he finally escaped, the familiar shape of the school bus was pulling away over the bridge down the road._  
Just my luck to miss the bus on a day like this... Should I try to get a lift? Nah, dad's probably got the car, and far be it for me to go and interrupt the oh-so-mighty work of prodding atoms... It's only a couple of miles, I can run that no problem... yeah, would help if I wasn't lugging a bag of books around. Should be okay, though. Here's hoping it stays dry long enough._

- 

"How do you mean, an accident?" Ganondorf snapped.   
"Just that. I don't know what happened to get you from... wherever you were... to here. Theory said that..."  
"Damn your theories! You... scientist?... must be able to do whatever you already have to break the seals on my prison!"  
Dr. Hunter paused. "Wait. Your prison? What are you talking about?"  
"You released me from my eternal confinement in the Dark World I had made my own." He grinned strangely. "And I am not the only one trapped there. My servants await release. You _will_ let them free."  
The scientist's mind was having trouble grasping what had happened. He was here, talking to someone. Some_thing_. And the experiment had gone wrong. He clung to the one bit of sense he could. "Look. I don't know who you are, Mr. - what was it? But I wouldn't expect a... a ghost, to understand just what the problem is here! The equipment is wrecked! I might have enough power in what's left for one more try, but I don't intend to waste what juice is left in the generator when I know nothing is going to happen..."  
"Energy, is it, you require?" The evil king almost smiled. "The void produces its own energy. Can you not feel the darkness flowing through? That is all I require. And all you will require to repeat what you have already done. Do not think you can hold out much longer."  
Hunter thought for a second. He was already in trouble. _It can't hurt, surely. Nothing's going to happen, but at least I can get away from whatever the hell is going on here. _"Fine," he sighed. "Just don't expect a miracle. I think I can bypass what's completely wrecked here..."  
"Do it!"  
_Shut up! I don't need some damn person I can't see straight chewing me out. Give me a chance, here! _Trying to ignore the glowing eyes peering into his mind, he tried to jury-rig the remaining instruments.  
It wasn't an easy task. There wasn't a working clock to be seen. It must have taken hours before he managed to get the equipment into some semblance of working order. With a mixture of reluctance and hope he flicked the switch.  
Nothing happened. He waited for a moment. "Looks like that's your lot. Got it?"  
Ganondorf wasn't listening - or he was, but to sounds only he could hear.  
"You've done well, scientist," he laughed. "The gate opened for long enough. _They_ are coming! The Dark World does not touch this one in the same ways you might think..."  
Anyone or anything that could be described as simply '_they_' sounded ominous. 

- 

The rain began to spatter down. Trying to keep in shelter, Link dodged down a side alley, raindrops trying to follow. For the moment, it seemed he would be okay. It looked a bit drier in here. Quiet, too. A little too quiet.  
_Except... what's that noise?_  
He listened hard. A faint squeaking and rustling was coming from behind a pile of discarded boxes. Link kicked one over to look.  
Immediately, he regretted it. 

"What the hell's _that_?" he yelled, surprised. What looked like a ball of shadow or smoke leapt out and knocked him over. It was closely followed by at least another ten. Shocked, Link wildly tried to beat the things away, yet for every one he seemed to destroy - vanishing in a whisp of dust - another took its place. He kicked out madly, just trying to get enough space to move. _If only I had some sort of a weapon... nah, wouldn't - agh - do any good - get away from me, you fuzzball... thing... what the hell _are_ you, anyway?_  
Of all the things he had expected of his day, being attacked by black puffballs was not high on his list of priorities. He had no time to spare on the rain - only on staying alive. They were out for his blood, pelting into him from every direction. All he could do was strike at anything he saw that moved, and hope for the best. 

Eventually, a shaken and tired Link managed to beat away all the creatures he could see. He looked around and ran on, deciding that being rained on was better than being attacked. The only thing on his mind now was getting home before something like that could happen again. Traffic piled past down the road. It did nothing for his temper when a motorcyclist sped past and through a convenient puddle. _As if I wasn't wet enough anyway, _Link cursed, missing the apologetic look flashed through the visor. He wasn't entirely sure that something else hadn't flashed through it instead, like a faint white light. _Impossible, _he decided, as he headed away. _Must have bashed my head._

A few moments after their encounter, the rider stopped. _This is the place,_ he thought, leaping off the cycle and heading into the alley. _I felt it - again - it's here somewhere. Perhaps I should have asked that boy if he saw anything... no, he wouldn't have. Best not to give myself away yet._  
Unnoticed, with a flick of his wrist he caught a double-helix sword in his left hand as he went to look. It all seemed quiet. Something felt wrong, though - the feeling of a just-healed wound hung in the air. No human would have noticed it.   
But to a deity, it was all too obvious. He heard a muffled squeak, and looked round. One last shadow creature was slinking out, insofar as the word applied to a being with no legs. _A black Boe? _Oni'kara thought, curious._ They've been extinct in this world for how long - at least a thousand years? But there's a last one there..._  
He aimed a well-placed kick at the monster. _Not any more_. It had confirmed his suspicions. He was in the right place at the right time. And with any luck he'd have time to find out the truth of what was happening. 

- 

"What happened?" his mother asked, concerned, as he came through the door. "Got caught in the rain?"  
_And more._ "Yeah, Mum. Carter had me in detention, so no bus."  
"Over the essay? You know..."  
"Okay..." Link spotted the parental rant coming, and sighed. "...It's my own fault, should have done it..." _Blah, blah..._  
"No need to take that tone with me!"  
_You don't have a clue. _"I'm gonna do it now. OK?" Without waiting for a reply, he ran up the stairs. He just hoped that the state his jacket was in would pass as simply 'rain'. Only rain didn't rip the seams. That wasn't going to be fun to explain. 

As he attempted to continue where he had left off, his sister rounded the door. "Hey, Link."  
"Hey. You going to tell me off, too?"  
"Nah. It only goes in one ear and out the other," she remarked, flicking the point of her brother's.   
"Watch it!" he almost snapped. "I'm sore enough already..."  
"Ohoh..." Zelda paused. "Cal and his gang beat you up?"  
"Wish it was them. Least then I could tell someone." Link was silent for a moment. "You trust me, right?"  
Zelda gave a shrug. "When you're not spinning some sort of a tale, yeah."  
"That's the problem. This is gonna sound like total nonsense - but I swear it's the truth. It wasn't Cal, it was weird creatures. Black puffball things."  
"You sure it wasn't a dog?" she added, trying to sound encouraging.  
"These things were a bit hard to mistake for a dog. They were big - I don't know, lumps of shadow with eyes." He stopped dead. "What are you looking at me like that for?"  
"Oh, come on! I'm not stupid! It sounds like the sort of thing you'd tell me when we were little, and not even as good as that!"  
"I'm... not... kidding. I've never been more serious." He sighed. "Look, you can tell me I'm lying all you want. But I'm not. Really."  
She put her head to one side. "Just leave it, Link. You're beginning to scare me." 

Zelda walked away. Link shook his head. He hadn't expected, inside, that she would believe him. _Even I wouldn't believe me with something like that. _It had been worth a try, though.   
The essay hung on the computer screen. _Fine, then. What do I know about the olden days? C'mon, brain... think... _  
It seemed impossible. The black letters merged into black blobs, leaping out at him. He wasn't fit for anything tonight yet.  
Link paused. _Well, I know someone who is. He's a bit of a nerd on this sort of thing, right? Hope he doesn't mind me asking... _The email address he tapped out on the keyboard was only testament to his penpal's historical knowledge - imperfect, but far better than Link's own.   
_To: ganondorf@globecom.cl. Re: Homework Hell!. Hey, Garry... mind helping me out here?_...  
He suspected his friend wouldn't be awake yet, given the difference in time zones. But it was worth a try. 

-- 

A/N: A big thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far is in order here, methinks...   
JadeAngel, Shades of Oblivion, Lord Orion, Hotaru S. Tomoe, Eskimo Kid, The Fierce Deity, Big Ben - huge thank you's to everyone for giving me such positive feedback. And if you haven't, any comments will be mucho appreciated from the bottom of my heart... Any flames will be donated to the Sunshine Sanctuary for Sick Dragons :p  
  



	4. One Step Closer

**Generations**

**_--_**

**_Chapter 3: One Step Closer..._**

-- 

Saturday morning rolled round. Usually, at weekends, Link was all too keen to pull the sheets over his head until the afternoon and bury his face in the pillows. But not today.  
The dream had returned. And there was no chance he was going back to sleep after that. The details had gotten even more vivid this time - slightly different, too. The monster he'd seen seemed at the same time to be human - and familiar. Closing his eyes, he could still see that raging animal face staring red-eyed into his own.   
_Oh, gods. I'm screwed up here. It's only a dream, idiot... yeah, but... better not tell anyone this time._  
Link sighed, got out of bed, pulled on a white T-shirt and khaki trousers and stared dully at his reflection in the mirror. Usually sharp blue eyes, almost lavender-tinted, were clouded with sleep. His blond hair, not quite long enough for any decent length ponytail, was untidily draped around his face. He reluctantly combed it into some semblance of order and grabbed a green Kakariko Falcons baseball cap off the bedside table, trying not to crush his flicked-back fringe as he rammed it backwards onto his head. Looking slightly more respectable, he headed for the door and a proper wash. 

Something caught his eye. A light was blinking on his computer. _Oh, yeah, _he thought, a sinking feeling growing in his stomach. _1000 more words. Monday. Better get it out of the way. ...Email. _He flicked it into life and logged on. "Junk... junk... yeah, free money would be nice, but I'm not going to get it online, am I?" He paused. _That's more like it._  
_To: the.missing.link@hyrule-intercom.net. Subject: Re: Homework hell!.  
do your *own* homework, L. !! lol. don't get much info on hyrulian history here, but there's a couple of sites you might want to check out, here's the addresses...  
...oh, yeah, and what do you mean about monsters? sounds more like one of those ancient Links talking..._

Link stopped dead in his tracks. "_What_ ancient... what the hell are you talking about, Garry?" _Is this some pile of history I never heard of? Better get in touch. Sounds interesting._ He'd only added a last sentence on the monsters in the alley as a joke - there was no way he had expected to get a reply.  
_To: ganondorf@globecom.cl. Subject: Say what?.   
You've lost me, bud... not all of us are experts on whatever ancient legend you're talking about..._  
Shaking his head, he signed off and walked away. The prospect of breakfast had a strong appeal at the moment. Then, probably going to meet friends in town. The storm yesterday seemed to have lifted. It would be a shame to spend the day in front of a video game. _Especially that old thing_, Link half-grinned, thinking of his well-played but out of date console. _Now, if I could... like I'm ever going to persuade them... and considering I'm just about broke..._

It looked like Zelda was still asleep when he arrived downstairs, and his mother was out. The only other person Link could see was his father, quietly drinking a cup of coffee in front of the television news. They barely exchanged glances, neither wanting to show what was on their mind.  
"Going out?"  
"Yeah. What's it to you?" Link snapped.  
"I was just... interested."  
"That's a new one! Like you've ever been 'interested' in what I'm up to..."  
"I've been... busy, lately..."  
"Lately?" Robert's face flushed at his son's accusations. "Surprised you're not already _there_ on some project or other."  
The scientist went silent. _Link can't know, surely?..._ he thought. "It's not..." The phone rang. Link left it to his father to answer it as he headed into the kitchen. He could overhear what sounded like a request to come into work. _You don't even care about weekends, do you?_

Rolling his old mountain bike out from behind the garden shed, Link quietly cursed. Dreams and arguments and monsters... it wasn't a good day. Punctured tyres were just the thing to put the icing on the cake. The Hunters' ginger tabby looked like it was smirking from its cozy position on top of a ruined vacuum cleaner. Link restrained himself from throwing a rock at it as he fiddled with the wheel. 

- 

Leaving his cycle locked down a side street, Link's stroll habitually brought him past the local arcade. He'd spent too long and too much in there. Mostly locked in fierce competition over the beat-'em-up machines with Ralph. _Hang on_, he thought, and smiled as he headed towards their favourite - already occupied.  
"Just use her kick-flips on his head, then stab while he's getting up - he'll go down in five seconds. Easy. You hadn't worked that one out, yet? No, don't you always play as that nightmare knight?..."  
Ralph almost jumped as he looked round. "I didn't need your tips..."  
"Yes, you did," Link grinned as he pointed out the sword-maiden lying on the floor onscreen. "Got any more credits?"  
"That was your fault!"  
"Was it? You were getting flattened when I walked in - just a bit of friendly advice..."  
"You wanted to see me get my butt kicked! Nothing worse than a back-seat gamer..." He shrugged as his friend glared. "Your turn now. You're going down."  
"Thought you'd never ask. Best of three..."  
"You're paying. I haven't even got one cent change left, never mind a two-rupee piece. That was my last continue, and the last level, _thanks a lot._" His protestations were as much as a game as the machine in front of them. The friends were just as much rivals as allies at times. Link slammed coins into the slot - it had been three hundred years since rupee gems had been Hyrulian currency - and within a few seconds two armed warriors faced each other in combat.  
"You know..." Ralph jerked on the joystick, dodging Link's blows - "I wonder how you'd look with a real sword, sometimes... you seem to spend so long with a digital one..."  
"Don't think so, somehow," Link remarked, flipping backwards and preparing a special attack. "I don't think I'd know which end to hold."  
"It's the one that isn't pointy."  
Link only glared and proceeded to hit the buttons harder. 

- 

"Hi, Mack," Robert remarked down the phone a little uneasily. "What's up? Don't you ever take a day off?"  
"You know what's up. Your experiment. I don't know what you've been doing in there, but there's some crazy energy field blocking off your lab. No-one's been able to go in there."  
"I didn't give anyone permission to go looking at my stuff anyway!" His heart sank. He could guess whose responsibility that was. _And I didn't give you permission to start playing your little tricks either, Ganondork! _"I'll be there in five." 

Minutes later, he was running down the university's corridors in a manner hardly suiting a distinguished scientist. _What's happened now?_ he asked himself.   
"Okay. Care to explain this?" Mack asked, waiting by the side of... The phone call hadn't been wrong. The corridor was blocked by a shimmering violet haze of energy.   
"Wish I could..." Dr. Hunter muttered, putting out a cautious hand to touch it. He could feel nothing solid there, however. The only difference between the energy-field and the normal air was heat, as if it were summer in the desert inside the field although the corridor was a normal room temperature.  
"How the hell are you doing that, Rob?" his companion responded, shocked. "A student tried that and they're in the hospital with third degree burns."  
"Nice of you to tell me that before I risk my arm..." the scientist finished, walking onwards through the wall of dark light. _I suspect I know why. ...He needs my help._

His suspicions were confirmed as he entered the laboratory. Things had changed. The equipment was surrounded in the same indigo light as the forcefield. "Where are you?" he asked, sighing. "What have you been doing here, Mr. I'm-too-good-for..."  
"Enough!" Ganondorf's voice roared. The dark king's form crystallised in front of his eyes. "I do not see why I should tell you where I was."  
"Because you need me," Dr. Hunter stated flatly. "That's the impression I'm getting. So spill it."  
The Gerudo's eyes narrowed at the scientist's impudence. "Very well... The forces of the Dark World stand ready to break through, as I was commanding them to. All I require is that you reopen a rift between worlds..."  
"How am I supposed to do that? Is that why you've been playing silly devils with my equipment?"  
"'Silly devils'? I have adapted your... alchemical apparatus, is it?... to feed off the energy of the void. It will respond to your mind pattern - and mine. Now, Hylian! Do what you are here for!" 

He sighed, and looked at the laboratory. _What do I do here? Do I just..._ Sighing, he attempted to activate the computer console he had been using. It worked all too well.  
All too fast. The air felt sharp with electricity. The scientist found himself hoping whatever he had done hadn't worked - but from the look on Ganondorf's face, he could only assume it had.  
_I didn't ask for this_, he murmured under his breath. 

- 

The rest of the day passed happily. With his friends by his side, Link could almost try and forget the dreams that plagued him, or the strange events of yesterday. There was nothing more 'real' than the sights and sounds of the city around him. Perhaps it was all just his imagination, he tried to tell himself. Perhaps the dreams were nothing more than that.   
_It can't be anything else, surely... _  
"Hey, Link? What's with the spaceman act again?" Ralph grinned, nudging his friend in the side. "You're acting the same way you were yesterday. Haven't touched your burger. You're not on something?" He laughed. "If so, can I have some?"  
"Don't be stupid!" Link snapped. "Sorry, buddy. Just got a lot on my mind, that's all. Kind of personal."  
"This isn't about a certain you-know-who, is it?"  
He shook his head. "No. It's nothing to do with Lynna."  
"When are you going to..."  
"I believe the answer to that is, 'none of your business'." One of their group whistled. "You can shut it, too, Ike. We're just friends." 

Eventually, the shops began to shut. Link left his friends behind and headed for where he had left his bicycle parked, realising how stupid he had been to leave it in such a quiet spot. There was a voice behind him as he reached to fiddle with the lock.   
"Well, look who's here."   
He automatically knew who it was. If there was anyone he didn't want to see at the moment... "Shove off, Cal."  
"Shove? Okay..." Link found himself almost on the floor and looking up at his attacker. It wasn't that Calvin Anson was bigger than him, but the blow had come as enough of a surprise to throw him off balance. Both boys possessed the same wiry sort of build, and were the same age at sixteen. Others had frequently noticed more similarities than differences between the two - although this was never mentioned to either's face. Same height, similar natural hair colour, even if Cal had tried to disguise that ever since he'd heard of hair dye. However, there was one thing they had never shared, apart from friendship.  
Cal's eyes, deep ruby, glittered as Link got back to his feet. With a distinguishing feature like that, it had either been a choice between being bullied or becoming one. He had chosen the latter, and had managed to use words where others would choose fists. "You never really heard of fair play, did you?"  
"That's for losers. Like yourself."  
"Takes one to know one," Link half-spat. He was beginning to wish he hadn't left his bicycle down such a quiet alley. Bullies were like monsters, he thought - attacking where no-one could see. His words were repeated sarcastically in return. "Get lost, or I'll get the cops."  
"Oh, yeah, will you? I'm so scared..."  
"What's your big problem, anyway?"  
"Oh, let me think... I know. You."  
Link made an obscene gesture as he leapt onto his bike and made an escape. He could hear Cal's swearing behind him, and knew that the bully would probably have a word with his 'friends' - the muscle force he lacked - by school on Monday. He couldn't keep running forever. 

There was a bright flash behind him as he pedalled away. Link glanced over his shoulder briefly to see a dark shape forming in the air. _What the hell is that?_

It wasn't just one shape, but a collection of them. A flock of bats and crows were chasing him down the road. These weren't the sorts of creatures that he'd seen before, however. There was a menace in their movements as they pursued him. That's just stupid, Link told himself. They can't be...  
At that point, the first bat made a diving run towards him. Link swerved trying to avoid it, and began to stamp on the pedals angrily to get away from the waves that were flying in his direction. _What's their problem?_  
The living cloud fragmented. For a second, he thought he was safe, but there was - something - coming from among the dark flock. Whatever it was, it didn't look happy. Some strange aerial monster, cloaked among the flock of crows and bats, had its eyes fixed on him. 

_My gods. How am I supposed to outrun that thing_? Link thought, trying not to let his mind dwell on the beast's horrific features. Slowly, surely, it gained on him, its leathery wings beating the air. It was only a good job the roads were quiet. The one or two passers-by didn't even seem to have noticed the creature. _Just my luck to have been the only person who can see it..._

It sped up. Link could almost feel the monster's breath on the back of his neck. He glanced back, then forwards again.  
Just in time. He was speeding towards a wall. He cursed and yanked on the brake, the bike flicking its back wheel in the air as the pursuing monster crashed into the brickwork above it. It fell to the floor in front of Link, whose jaw dropped as he watched it fade into non-existence. Its smaller companions decided not to risk the same fate and swerved away. 

They left a shaken teenage boy staring at the floor.   
_This is getting too strange. What's happening to me?_

- 

"Who is this?" Ganondorf asked, angrily. The photograph that sat on Dr. Hunter's desk looked strangely familiar. It had been taken around four years ago, and showed a smiling boy of twelve and girl of ten. There was something in the youth's expression that he'd seen before, when he had watched through a demon's eyes.  
Usually, it had been trying to kill him.   
The scientist failed to pick up the resonance in the dark king's voice. "The family," he remarked proudly but sadly. Ever since that happy day they had grown further apart.   
"The boy. Who is he?"  
"That's my son. Link."  
There was a heated pause - the sort that comes before a volcano exploding. "What?" Ganondorf hissed, eyes flaring red with anger. "And don't tell me that is the princess Zelda by his side..."  
"Princess? No, my daughter, his sister. But you got the name right, anyway... how?" 

Ganondorf wasn't really listening. He turned aside and looked into the rip in space. "Bring her to me," he whispered into its depths. "Follow the others, my loyal serpents."  
_Doesn't he mean loyal servants_, the shocked scientist thought, before jumping in. "Look! You can't just..."  
"Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do, _Hylian_? I am only keeping you alive because you are useful to me. Though I am weakened, I have _that_ much power. If your usefulness ends - so does your life. You understand?" He nodded, mutely. Whatever was planned didn't sound good. 

- 

Later that night, the modem chirped into a sluggish life as Link tried to restart his research. Both the addresses he'd been given seemed to have the information he'd needed. With any luck, he'd survive Monday unscathed.   
It wasn't homework he was researching now, however. He knew that simply putting his own name into the search engine was a recipe for disaster, but there seemed to be nothing else for it. Once was an accident, but twice? Something strange was happening, and he had to find out what. The only lead he had was Garry's passing comment. "Okay... search for... legends... yeah, this is never gonna work... some people would want their name on every webpage in the world, but as for me..." He paused before adding the words "ancient Hyrule" on a hunch.  
As he'd expected, the first few entries were nothing to write home about. The whole of the first page seemed irrelevant - he had no idea what he was actually looking for, but these weren't it. _Maybe this was a bad idea_, he thought, clicking onto the second. _Junk... junk... _  
He blinked. _What's that?_  
_Myths and Legends of Ancient Hyrule: The Heroes of Time www.worldwidewisdom.res/hyrule/~37729/link.htm_

_...One of the most enduring myths of our country is that of its young heroes, defenders of Hyrule, Labrynna and Holodrum from demonic onslaughts. Almost semi-divine in status, their exploits have been hidden behind a mask of rumour and legend, until it is no longer possible to determine the truth about these brave young men. Indeed, these mythical protectors are sometimes thought to have been only children on starting their impossible quests. Possibly the best known of them all, Hyrule's first hero but the second known in the line, was believed to be only seventeen. The chronological first, however, was a mere twelve. Estimates for the others' ages reach as little as ten years old.  
It is widely believed that there were five of these heroes, although as they are known to share the same unusual name - Link - the exploits of all may have been confused. How else is it possible for all five to have destroyed the same creatures in their quest? While magic indeed existed as a potent force in those days, surely time travel was beyond its reaches..._

Link swallowed as he reached for the mouse to scroll down the page. The facts he read were more incredible by the paragraph. "Damn you, stupid thing... is this all real?" _Don't believe everything you read on the internet_, he told himself. _It's just legends, right... it's just a story._ Some of the names looked familiar, though. So _that_ was where Garry had taken his email address from. His sister's name, too, seemed to appear just as often as his own. _It's not! It's just a coincidence..._ Link repeated. _Probably I was just named after these heroes but it doesn't mean anything. It can't._ It wasn't a comfortable idea, though. 

"Mum?" he yelled downstairs, anxious to get it sorted out.  
"Yes, love?" she responded.   
"You're into history, right? Legends and stuff?"  
"I'm not... why did you think that?"  
"Uh... nothing." He paused. "Actually, yeah. It's just... my name..."  
"What about it, dear?"  
"Where did you get it from? And Zelda, too, what about hers?"  
"I think it was after your great-aunt, your father insisted anyway. The name's been in his side of the family a long time... as for yours? That's the funny thing... I didn't have any idea until you were born. Then... it seemed like it suited you, your father said so too..."  
"Fine," Link replied, a little shaken. _If it wasn't after the legends, then..._

He took one last glance at the page as he prepared to sign off, and swore out loud. In a picture at the bottom of the screen, an artist had reconstructed an image of one of the young heroes fighting, sword and shield at the ready. _The design on the shield features the sacred Triforce symbol_, he read, _one of the most common features in the legend. An union of three forces - power, wisdom and courage_.  
It was blurred and compressed on screen - but Link had no trouble in recognising the triple triangle emblem as he glanced at the back of his hand. 

-- 

A/N: And so the truth unfolds...  
I will apologise here in case I start using too many Linkin Park songs as titles :P Bleh. I've spent too long listening to 'Reanimation'...  
One thing. The next few chapters may be an ickle bit slow in coming... so if I don't update, I haven't abandoned the story, I'm just hunting plot bunnies. I've got all the pieces of the jigsaw, I'm staring at the lid, but I'm having trouble doing the puzzle... Whatever. Thanks for putting up with my rambling... :) 


	5. One Of Us

**Generations**

-- 

**_Chapter 4: One of Us_**

-- 

Although a soft drizzle coated the urban landscape, Kakariko's Saturday night-life was busy. Young people made their way between one party and the next. A lot of them obviously had a little too much to drink, and not all of them were above the legal drinking age. Among the crowds, two girls made their way into the nearest bar, walking past a slightly unhinged preacher and an expensive looking motorcycle - that no one was interested in smashing or stealing for once.   
The friends talked excitedly among themselves. "What do you mean, you've never been in here before?"  
"High Voltage? I thought it was a bit rough..."  
"Dunno where you got that impression, Mel. Probably the safest place in the whole city. And considering I've never seen you drink anything stronger than orange juice..."  
"You can talk, Lynna Bowman," Mellonie retorted. "You get high if you even sniff a drink in the near vicinity. And there isn't a guy in town who's safe from you, then. You big flirt."  
She shrugged. "Used to be. I've changed, I've changed!" Lynna grinned. "To be honest, I'm _really_ getting a crush on - I'll tell you inside." Mel glared, but her friend put on an angelic face and changed the topic. "I think it's live music tonight. New guy. Only showed up yesterday, but the boss was so impressed... supposed to be an absolute rock god! DJ's _and_ plays his own instruments."  
"What? Here? You know we never get any bands worth it..." 

- 

One figure seemed untroubled by the madness around him as he wandered through the streets. There'd been another rip only today and the resonance through the worlds was tearing on his nerves. This one hadn't healed over as easily as the last, and it continued to distort his senses. Somewhere nearby, there was a portal to another world that he couldn't as yet find. It would be best, then, for him just to listen until he found it. 

The street preacher ranted his litany from the corner of the block. "The gods are among us! They walk among us as normal people, but they're watching us, they're..."  
His collar was seized roughly. "You're right, friend," Oni whispered, lifting the manic evangelist to his eye-level. "But we don't appreciate the likes of you giving away the big secret. So try to keep it quiet, okay?" He put the preacher back down, and walked away.  
It took it a while to register.   
"Wha'... what did that guy mean, '_we_'?" 

Slightly dazed, he watched the departing figure. As far as he was concerned, his eyes were following someone in a black leather jacket and jeans that were the same colour, long platinum hair tied loosely back out of his face with a white headband. His face... that had been easily the most striking thing about him. At a first glance, he appeared young, perhaps only twenty or so - but something had given a lie to those years. The preacher hadn't seen the marble glow in the eyes that characterised the earthbound immortal, only the palest grey-blue irises he had ever known. No red and blue markings were visible on his face, except what looked like two faint slanting scars across the right cheekbone that took nothing away from his possessing features. Here, he was unrecognisable as a deity, or the hero he had once been.  
In this world, Oni'kara thought to himself, that was probably the best way to be. One man's hero was another's villain, a fact he knew all too well. And the old beliefs, even his sisters' myths - what of them? The ancient temples, even the Temple of Time, were ruined - nothing but archaeology. The process had begun long ago, he knew... the names of the three goddesses, once so well known, were forgotten as thoroughly as that of their brother. On his travels, he'd met many girls by the names Farore or Nayru, none of whom had the slightest idea what they meant.   
No Links, however. The thought pulled him up sharply. In all the worlds, except for the Heroes themselves, he had never seen anyone who shared the same name he once had. That had to mean something. 

He turned the corner, heading for the back entrance to the same club the two girls had. Sometimes, some worlds, he could earn his way by the sword. In others - lesser talents were his best bet, and a mercenary could become a musician. Not under his real name, though. The management there had heard their new act's name was Kay Greenwood. He wasn't about to correct them, and expose a secret kept for two thousand years. 

- 

The performance was everything they had expected, Mel and Lynna decided, quietly watching. They hadn't ever seen someone do that with a guitar before. Although there was only one musician on stage, they were sure they could hear more instruments from outside. Something that sounded like a flute was following the guitar's notes. However, the technicalities of the performance weren't what interested the girls about him.  
"Y'know, Lyn'? The way he's standing, from that angle - looks a bit like Link, doesn't he?" Lynna went red. "Sounds a bit like him, too... well, I'd say so, anyway."  
"Uh... yeah..."  
Mel laughed. "Oh... I think I've found out who your little crush is on, is it?" She paused, and made as if she was going to start chanting.  
"If you dare say _anything_... I thought you were too old for the 'in a tree...' routine!"  
Her eyes twinkled. "You're never too old for the classics."  
"Get lost!" Lynna light-heartedly dug an elbow into her friend's side. She glanced around. "Hey, I think he's looking at us..." she hissed, jerking her head towards the platinum-haired guitarist, who had put his instrument to one side for a moment. 

Smiling inwardly, Oni'kara turned aside from trying to listen in on the girls' conversation. Even over his own music, he'd heard them mention the name clearly. _Right place, right time_, he thought - sure that Lynna and Mel would never know how close they had come to the truth. "Okay," he started down the microphone. "This one's for... someone very close to me. The title's 'Forgotten Ones.'" _Something I never have._  
"Aww," Lynna murmured, as she heard the immortal's powerful tenor strike into song. The lyrics seemed strange - but in his voice, perfectly natural. 

Suddenly, he stopped, and raised a hand to his head. The listeners looked up as the music finished sharply. "Excuse me. ...I'll be back in a little bit. There's... something I need to take care of..." _Talk about an understatement_, he thought, hurrying off stage. But there wasn't a suitable way to put what he was feeling. 

"Did you see that?" Mel whispered, gesturing towards the departing figure. "Who does he think he is, walking out like that? Some sort of..."  
"I... I don't know," Lynna mused. "I reckon he's got a good reason, though. Somehow... and you didn't see his eyes, then, did you?"  
"Nuh-uh. What do you mean?"  
"Maybe it's just me, but for a second, there was something very wrong with them..."  
They turned back towards their drinks. Neither noticed the figure in the doorway pausing briefly, and raising a hand haloed with silver-blue light. _Don't worry. I'll be back in no _time_ at all..._

- 

"I'll see you around, hey? And thanks for the great party!" Zelda yelled, walking away from her friends.  
"No problem, kid!" a voice said happily in return.  
"'Kid?' Lay off... you're not _that_ much older than me..." she grinned, not looking where she was going and turning down a side street. She was totally unaware of the noises coming from her destination. 

"Masster will be pleassed..." a reptilian voice murmured, before its owner snapped forwards and snatched her up.   
"You jerk! Let me go!" She began to struggle. This wasn't right. She'd thought it would be okay, that she'd be safe just walking from a friend's house after a party to a bus stop, but... "Look, you can have my cellphone, you can have my cash, just let me go, okay?"  
"Cel-ppphone? You are what the master needs, pprincesss..."  
"Princess? That's a new one! Just get your filthy... scaly... claws... off me..." _Claws? Oh... my gods. Link was right... I should have believed him, but how could I, when..._ She tried to shove the lizard-man away, but the reptilian was too strong. "And who's this 'master', anyway? A creep like you?"  
"The King Ga..." 

"Let her _go_!" a voice yelled. It sounded a little like Link, Zelda thought, looking round wildly. A tall man - well over six foot, she guessed - in a leather jacket and silver shades stood silhouetted against the murky light. He was holding something - it looked like a knife, but the blade was transparent - high in his left hand.   
"Whattt if I donnn't?"  
"You don't have a choice." With one fluid movement, the stranger pitched the blade forwards. Zelda held her breath for a moment as it whisked past her ear, leaving a trail of blue light in its wake. The monster vanished in a wisp of dust and smoke. The only evidence left was the crystalline knife lodged in the wall behind her. Its owner started forward to retrieve his weapon.  
"Whoa..." she whispered, overawed. "Thanks... whoever you are. You saved my life."  
The stranger remained silent for a moment, almost as if he was listening to something. "I was just doing my duty, Zelda." He turned to leave. 

"Wait! How did you know my name?" He didn't reply. "Hey - come back!"  
_That guy was too strange. A good aim, though. I thought I was dead.  
How did he know my name, anyway?  
Wish I knew his.  
And I wish I knew what that... thing... was that grabbed me..._

She wasted no time in getting as far away from the place as possible. 

Unnoticed, her rescuer walked on alone. _It's happened again. The same tale. Hundreds of years? History doesn't care.  
But how, this time?  
She was no princess. Hyrule's been a republic for 400 years. But she was still... There was no mistaking who she was! It was in her mind so strongly I couldn't miss it...  
So... somewhere out there... if past lessons hold true... if I heard correctly...  
_He smiled, faintly._  
Wherever you are, Link... I trust you to do your best._

- 

Link stared at the ceiling above his bed, idly kicking his feet on the covers. It was strange how just a handful of little words could so possess the mind that anything else found itself flooded aside. Whenever his brain stepped back down into neutral gear, the same thoughts came pounding back in.   
_Can't be true. I'm no hero!   
(Bet the others thought the same before they...)  
What "others?" It's all just stories!  
(Bit of a weird coincidence, then...)_

He stretched his left arm out in front of him, staring at the mark across his hand.   
_Creepy coincidence, sure, but it can't be anything else, surely...  
(You checked two other sites. They all said the same thing. That's a Triforce mark.)  
Ha! Religion? Hardly my style... _Link thought, an atheist and a sceptic. _Load of nonsense. If there are gods, why don't they do anything?_  
_(Because it's up to those like you. The heroes.)_  
Drifting further into an anxious form of reverie, the slamming of the front door shocked him back into consciousness. He could hear his mother's and Zelda's voices downstairs, followed by pounding feet on the stairs. 

His sister burst into his room. He bolted upright, surprised. "Whoa! What's the hurry? Zel, you look like you've seen a ghost!"  
"Not quite," she sighed, out of breath. "Link - I'm sorry."  
He paused. "Sorry for what? Not like I was doing anything..."  
"Not that. What you said on Friday. The monsters." She looked aside, and then back towards him. "You were right. I believe you now."  
"Thanks." _I don't know if I even believe myself any more._ "Why the sudden change of heart?"  
"...Because I've seen them myself. I was attacked on my way to the bus stop coming back from Riley's party. This overgrown... sheesh, this sounds so stupid... overgrown iguana mugged me. I was lucky there was someone there to stop it..."  
"Wasn't wearing a cape and his underpants on the outside, was he?"  
Zelda managed to laugh. "Nah. Biker jacket. But he ...looked like he'd done this sort of thing before."  
"As long as you're okay." Link paused. "Take a look at this," he remarked, fetching a pile of printed paper and passing it over to his sister. "What does this sound like to you?"  
She scanned down the page. "Since when are you interested in history?... Oh. I see. You think this is real?"  
"I wasn't sure. But if you've seen the monsters too, and that one sounds like it was bigger than the ones I have... Maybe it even explains those creepy dreams I've been having. It's... it's got to be true. There's no way out..." He shook his head. "Do I look like a hero to you?"  
"I'm trying to think of a diplomatic way to put this..." Smiling, she put a hand on his shoulder. "But if this is true, you'll surprise me somehow. I mean, if it is, it's your destiny to succeed, right?" With that, she left. 

_Succeed at what? What am I supposed to be doing?  
_He closed his eyes for a moment. _It's got to be true, now.  
All this destiny crap, all this stuff I've read... ugh.  
Probably means I'm 'destined' to be beaten up a hell of a lot.  
If that's the case...  
What do I do?_

-- 

A/N: Sorry for being such a slowcoach, what else can I say? A big thank you to everyone who's had the patience to put up with my delays ^_^, a bigger thanks to anyone who's reviewed... Maniac Mosli, Shades of Oblivion, Eruantale, Son Mist, JA (and double thanks for the beta read), Wombat2820, Tifalee, anyone I've missed... hope I don't leave you guys hanging this long for chapter 5...  
Until next time, sayonara! 


	6. Reanimation

**Generations**

**--**

**_Chapter 5:_** **_Reanimation_**

**--**

_He watched, warily.... A shadow moved in front of him, two glittering flames for its eyes, all his dark thoughts given form... It - he - regarded him in return, a blade of darkness in its hand. How was he supposed to defend against this attack?... A yell broke through his thoughts. The shadow was screaming..._

_Or singing? With a start, he realised he knew the words..._

"...And that was the latest single from Fusion, here on Kakariko's one-oh-two-point-four FM, Peak Radio! Now here's a new one by Sara Forester, the lead singer of..." 

_Ungh. What was that about? Okay for those other heroes, _Link thought, staring at the alarm clock on Monday morning and letting the DJ's voice wash over him. Most of the weekend had been spent slightly dazed. He knew that he must have eaten, slept and lived in general over Sunday - all under a cloud - but he was finally growing to accept what his fate was. That last nightmare had only brought things into focus. _Probably born with a sword in their hand - owch! Probably never had to go to school... don't think they had schools in those days, did they? Lucky for them. Unfortunately, I do._

He was met downstairs by a slightly pensive Zelda, and his father looking extremely tired out. Not in the mood to argue for once, their eyes briefly caught across the breakfast table._ I can't let him know, _Link thought. _If there's one thing... they'd both freak out if they knew what we've been going through._

There was nothing to say that morning. Link and Zelda were quiet as they headed out the doorway to the bus stop, neither wanting to mention what was happening. It still seemed all too strange. Zelda couldn't help but notice that her brother seemed a little uneasy. She put it down to his newfound troubles. _I don't blame you,_ she thought. _If it was up to me..._

- 

Dr. Hunter knew he shouldn't have been looking in Link's room, as he quickly looked up the stairs. If his son had known, it would have been cause for part two hundred in the feud between generations. But, he thought, the way things were going it would be the last chance he would have. For the most part, it looked like any average teenager's room, for whom keeping things tidy was of less importance than keeping them where they were wanted. Clothes and books waged war over the limited floorspace available, while the computer, television and video games console conducted their own battle.   
One thing caught his eye, however, amid the general chaos. A notebook sat by the computer. He swallowed as he read the title.   
_Diary of a (possible) hero, by L. A. Hunter... what is this about? Unless...  
_Feeling slightly guilty, he quickly read the first page. His heart sank. _All the things I've been, we've been doing... they're all happening to you? I had... I had no idea... damn it, Rob! _He_ even asked about them, and you didn't twig? Call yourself a scientist!   
_He flipped the thin book shut, and turned his attention to a pile of papers underneath. Most of them looked like plain printouts. Mostly text, and mostly covering the same ground. One page caught his eye, though. Green ballpoint sketches of artifacts, surrounded by Link's handwriting. Someone had been doing his research thoroughly. _If only he was that keen about his homework_, he thought, and read on. 

_...Master Sword... mythical blade, used by most of the heroes, but hasn't been seen in nearly 1000 yrs. ... Silver Arrows - what's the point? Freaky magnifying glass, 'lens of truth' - supposed to reveal the truth to anyone who looks thru' it (Hyrule City National Museum)... magical ocarina - what? Zelda's doesn't look anything like that, too many holes... Fierce deity mask (?) - first hero used this to transform into a warrior god, yeah, right (Kakariko Archaeological Museum)... hookshot, haven't I seen this in outdoor supplies store?..._

The list continued in the same fashion, but Robert's eye kept swinging back up towards the top of the page - the image of the mask. Maybe it was his imagination, but the face depicted bore a noticeable resemblance to Link's own. Something was annoying him about it. With a start, he realised. _If that's in the Archaelogical Museum, I used to work there, I've got contacts...  
If there's a way I can help you... I will. _

- 

The morning went past quietly. Link thought he had never seen his History teacher look so surprised as when he dropped the essay on his desk. It would probably get a D, knowing the rushed state it was in and his luck, but he doubted that 'I couldn't do my homework because monsters are attacking me and I'm the destined protector of this country' would pass muster as an excuse for extra time on it. 

At the first opportunity, he found himself in the library, trying to further research the legends he found himself in. Not that the resources there were much use. As far as they were concerned, history seemed to start at the same time as science. He had asked the librarian, but she had been of no help either. She had never seen Link in there of his own accord, and wasn't sure he was entirely honest about his reasons for being there. 

A voice disturbed Link from his browsing. "Well, this isn't like you..."  
He looked up. "Hey, Lyn'? Just trying to dig myself out of a hole..."  
"Okay," she laughed. "Who are you, and what have you done with the real Link?" He caught himself joining in, recognising the truth in what she'd said. But, in some ways, 'who are you' cut closer to the bone than he imagined such a simple question could.  
"Heh. There was just... some stuff I wanted to check out."  
"Not like you... I can't stop to chat. 'Specially not here... Got band practice in a couple of minutes. Guess I'll be seeing you after..." With that, Lynna smiled softly and left. Link's eyes followed her out the door.  
_Damn, _he thought._ Thanks, mouth. I could've told her there while it was quiet... how hard can it be to put together the phrase 'I want to go out with you?' Smooth move, mr. hero... Stuff this. She's only out..._

Earning a surprised look from the librarian, Link bolted for the door. "Lynna, wait!"  
"What is it?" she asked, surprised.  
He shook his head. "Uh - I was wondering. Would you, you know, like to go out sometime?"  
She chuckled. "Is that you trying to ask me for a date?" Link nodded. "There's no need to come on all tongue tied. I'd love to. Where were you thinking of?"  
He thought for a second. "Sheesh - I hadn't really thought about it!" Lynna gave him a sly look. "I know. What about Creamy's? In the old town?" She gave him a brief nod, and he paused for a second. "Thursday night be okay?"  
"Better than okay. Thanks." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'll see you there, then." 

It was later in the day that it suddenly occurred to him.   
_Please, no. I haven't dragged you into this, too, Lyn'?_

- 

"Excuse me? Does this library have a section on mythology? Legends? That sort of thing?"  
"Certainly, young man," the librarian replied, not noticing the amused flicker in the visitor's pale eyes. He wasn't the sort of person she would have expected to be dropping in for a little light reading, that was for sure. "Over in that corner. Numbers 313-319. Only the books there are a bit out of date..."  
"The further out of date, the better. Thank you." Surprisingly quietly, Oni span on his heel and walked away. He didn't feel at ease here. It was too peaceful, somehow - and walking past the history books felt strange, considering he knew the facts they contained better than they did. 

At random, he picked a selection of books from the shelf. The titles struck chords in his memory. _The Adventures of... The Legend of... The Guardian of... The Hero's... Aha. Prophecies._

_This sounds interesting... _Oni'kara thought, flipping the book open at the index. His eyes flickered quickly down towards his own name, out of habit. That wasn't what he was there for, however. A word caught his eye. _Inheritors. What does that mean?_ He quickly paged through the volume, drawing in a deep breath as he read and committed the words to memory. 

"_Eternal power, from heavens bound, in halls of knowledge shall be found... Where dark takes light, whose blood its bane, to raise the old times once again... Yet they shall come, far, near at hand, to one whose fate spans all the land... By all their sight, to finally see, the meaning of true destiny..."_ He shook his head.   
_What's that supposed to mean? These things are never that logical...  
Wait. The first line. I'm sure I've never been to any 'halls of knowledge', unless I count this. But... that's right! Didn't I see a sign for a university near here? That must be it. Something's happening there. I have to look.  
Dammit, Oni'kara, it might not even mean...  
What else could it be? You're in the middle of this, too._

- 

The Hunters' car almost screeched to a halt in the parking lot of the archaelogical museum. _You'd better have got the message_, Robert thought, running as quickly as he could to the back entrance. _They're going to kill me if they find out I've been pulling strings. And lying my butt off. I'm a physicist, not a historian, so what am I doing here?_  
_'They'? What about 'him'? If 'he' realises what you're up to...  
It probably won't do a thing. But I need to at least try._

The curator gave Dr. Hunter a strange look as he unlocked the cabinet. "You're a lucky so-and-so, Rob. I shouldn't really be letting this out of the museum. But you say you've found an expert on these sorts of things?"  
He nodded, swallowing, picking up the smooth wooden mask. "I don't know how long he'll take with it, but if there's anyone who knows what to do with this I know just the person. Thanks so much, Rich."  
"Fine. I just want it back in one piece eventually." 

His heart racing, the scientist walked away. 

- 

The school day was over. Pupils crowded out of the gates and across the school grounds. Among them, a distracted Link. He could only hope that he hadn't put Lynna in danger with his actions. 

A voice laughed behind his back. "Oh, hello. You know, I made you a promise on Saturday. I keep my promises."  
He span round. "Get lost, you jerk."  
"I don't think so. I'm where I want to be. You're the one who's going to be wishing he was lost."  
Link glared, angrily. "Shut up. Why can't you ever leave me alone?"  
Cal's eyes flared with a nameless anger. There had never really been any logical reason behind their rivalry. Perhaps, in their first years in school, something had started it. But now, it was quite simply bullying and fighting because things had always been that way. "What would be the point?" he spat, and with a quick kick cut Link's legs away from under him. Link only retaliated by kicking back, sending Cal down to the floor and getting dust in his dyed-black hair. For once, Cal didn't seem to be interested in calling for the cavalry, just in causing as much pain as possible.  
The fight continued for some time, gathering an audience rapidly. Unfortunately, a teacher was among them to break it up. Angrily, he waded in to drag the boys apart. 

"I am going to _kill you,_ Link Hunter! You hear me?" Cal hissed, as the teacher walked away. "One day, soon... you are dead meat!"  
Listening to Cal's words, Link shook his head. _You're probably not going to get the chance._

- 

It was strange, Oni'kara thought. The last time he had been to Kakariko, the whole of the city had probably been smaller than the campus complex he found himself walking across. Then again, that hadn't been the same Kakariko, but another world's variant. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same... 

He knew one thing for sure. This was the right place, for certain. A feeling of dark magic saturated the air. It almost surprised him that none of the students, professors or tutors that he could see could feel it. Then again, maybe they could - everyone seemed edgy. He could pick up stray thoughts in their minds. A wall of light that would let no-one pass, strange experiments that had been going on all weekend, and unusual behaviour from one of the most important people around.  
Trusting his instincts, he headed in the direction that most of the people around seemed to be leaving. As he drew closer, it got increasingly quiet, and the magical aura that surrounded him became stronger. There was no doubt that he was approaching something important. 

The problem was that there was no way to get inside. All the doors he could see were locked by key cards and codes. There was no-one around to get the appropriate information off. It would have been possible to break down the door easily enough, but that was a last resort. He paused for a moment, thinking. _There's got to be a way round this. There always is. But how do I...  
_As he wondered, a door opened into the courtyard where he stood. Oni looked round to see who it was. The figure who had appeared looked almost familiar, in some strange way. With a start, he realised. If he had ever aged, he suspected he would have looked a lot like the surprised scientist who stood there. 

"You're not one of my students, are you?" the scientist asked. "I've never seen you here before."  
"No," Oni'kara started. "I'm..." His words were cut off as his companion dropped to his knees, holding his hands in his head. "What's wrong?"  
A pair of deep blue eyes looked up to meet pale grey. With that, he knew what the problem was. "The dark power's affecting you, isn't it?"  
"How... how did you know? You couldn't have any idea what's been happening to me!"  
"I've got a feeling. Put it this way. Here - do you need a hand?"  
The scientist reached gratefully up. "Thanks." He paused. "Can I... can I trust you?" he whispered.  
"What for?"  
He shook his head. "It's hard to explain. But... do you know a boy by the name of Link Hunter?" Oni'kara froze. "He's my son, and in terrible danger. This package I'm carrying - I was planning to take it to him tonight. Only I don't think that I'll be able to make it..." The word _'alive_' followed in his thoughts. "Here. I can't believe I'm doing this - but if you know anyone who can get this safely to... Here. This is our address," the scientist remarked, grabbing a ballpoint out of his pocket and scribbling it down. "Please. I need your help."  
"I'll do it," the immortal interrupted. "I know - who you're talking about."  
"You've met?"  
"Not quite. Don't worry. You can trust me." _We're in this together._ He picked the parcel out of the scientist's hands, and walked away. There was a strange feeling coming through the wrapping. Quickly, surprised, he realised what he had been given. Underneath the wrapping, he could feel the contours of something he would have thought impossible. _No. That all happened in another reality. The lost timeline - two thousand years ago... my original home. This belongs here.  
Will it even work? After what I did to my counterpart here, this power could be useless.   
Maybe. Maybe not.   
If it does... I hope you're up to this, Link..._

- 

"Where were you?"  
Dr. Hunter swallowed. It had all seemed like such a good idea that morning, to get whatever help to Link that he could. But, now, his plans had collapsed. The artifact had reacted violently to the magic field around the laboratory, and there had been no chance he could have sneaked it past Ganondorf's vision. He could only hope that it would get to its destination safely. "I had some equipment to deliver to the rest of the labs. You were the one who said this had to be a secret - I'm just trying to make it look like everything is normal..."  
Ganondorf glared. "You lie, Hylian. You were with someone."  
"I was asking one of the research students to take it off me! Honest!" It wasn't a lie, he thought. Whoever that was had to have been a student, even if what he'd been given to deliver wasn't exactly 'lab equipment'.  
"We'll see. Here... you have a device which allows you to watch what occurred in the past, do you not?"  
The scientist sighed with relief. "I don't know how you knew that, but, yes. I should have video footage that'll prove what I'm saying. Hang on..." He began to search through the computer's files, trying to remember where the security camera program was. Technically, he shouldn't have had access to the camera, but a skill with computers seemed to run in the family. "October twenty... three pm... this should be it. Just watch." 

The video was slightly blurry, as any surveillance camera would be, but clear enough. He watched himself walking down the corridor, to the door where he had met the student he'd given the package to...  
His jaw dropped. Trying to recover his composure, he paused the video.  
"That's not right! Who is _that_?"  
Ganondorf's eyes flared in brilliant crimson. "You were talking to _him_! That... that is the figure who exiled me to that wasteland in the first place..."  
"No. No. That's wrong. The person I was talking to didn't go in for the whole armour and very large swords look.... I haven't seen him before!"  
"You were the one who said this... video, would show us the true events. Your guilt is clear, Hylian. You were a good servant - but you have betrayed me!" He squinted at the image. "How is he here? That... that... once, he went by the same name as your son. But the last time I saw him, he was someone else - yet always my nemesis. You were telling him where I was..."  
"I swear I didn't! If I was trying to deceive you, I wouldn't have told you that you could find out the truth..."  
"What is the 'truth'? What you are passing him - that is not your ...alchemical apparatus, is it? More likely a weapon, a map..." Dr. Hunter swallowed. "For this betrayal, you must pay!" 

A blazing violet fireball formed between the spectral dark king's hands. "Prepare to say goodbye to your dreams."  
"Wait!" the scientist protested, in a vain effort to hold on to his life. "The way I understood it, you needed me! You can't break through the worlds on your own - you can't destroy me here!" It sounded weak, but he could think of nothing else to say.  
Ganondorf paused. "No. Perhaps you are telling me the truth here." He smiled, sending a cold shock down Dr. Hunter's spine. "I need your mind. It is true. But more importantly... your body." 

The shadowy form of the Gerudo began to fade out of his field of view. The danger seemed to have passed. Has he gone? Dr. Hunter thought, cherishing the faint hope the thought gave him._ But where? And what did he mean by..._  
Immediately, he knew. A stabbing headache flooded through his system. Equally strong pain came in from his hands and feet, coursing upwards through his limbs, followed by a total numbness - as though they were no longer under his control. The feeling of losing himself rushed over his body. His mind was the only part of him still behaving as it should, and it rapidly came to the only possible conclusion.  
_This is what he meant... he meant to...  
I've failed you, Link...  
Try and forgive me when..._

Robert Hunter passed out and crashed to the floor. 

Unsteadily - unused to a human body - Ganondorf got to his feet. 

-- 

A/N: Phew... got this one out a bit earlier than chapter 4... still not as fast as I'd have liked, but I'm trying...  
I'm glad to know the last chapter was alright in the end. I rewrote it loads, that's why it was so delayed. Thanks for waiting. 

Okay. For everyone who asked, this chapter's longer than the last, hope this is what you're looking for. I don't know that I'll be able to manage it every time, but I can only try... 

Thank you! And please review... I know this chapter was a bit slow-paced, but I'd really appreciate feedback. Things ought to pick up speed in the next one. Thanks again, everyone. 


	7. First Contact

**Generations**

**--**

**_Chapter 6: First Contact_**

**--**

"...Alive again?" Ganondorf whispered. Strange, how truly human senses felt after all these centuries. So long, he had borne the form of a monster. Humanity had been something to be subdued inside his raging mind. While his first enemy had kept hold of his mortal traits throughout the ages, always living in human form as he lived in the human worlds, Ganon had had no such desires. They were weak, he thought. Powerless. What he had been was what he had wanted to be.   
Still, it was hard to pick and choose at a time like this. After centuries spent as a lost spirit, the feel of any corporeal body was strange - but all too welcome. Perhaps this was the body of a Hylian, but it was a small price to pay for existence. An even smaller price when he considered the knowledge locked in its original owner's mind. With this, he could finally break down the walls of his realm, and bring eternal darkness to Hyrule...  
He laughed, stretching out an arm. Considering this was the body of a physicist - that was the word, he knew now, the knowledge leaking through slowly - it was in good condition.   
More than that, in fact.  
Silently, Ganondorf chuckled to himself. It made sense, now. _Ah, yes. The bloodline of my nemesis shall be turned against him. Foolish Hylian - how could you never know your own power? How could you be so blind to what slept inside you? Though you are not one of those ...warriors, their blood runs equally in your veins. _  
_And their power. Combined with my own..._

In the back of his mind, he could hear that body's original owner, unconscious in his own consciousness. But that was hardly his concern. He had been a prisoner too long.  
It was time to see what this new world was really like. 

The faint, cruel smile faded from his lips as he looked around. This was not going to be as easy as he'd have thought. Working in the shadows had always been his way - a predator, waiting for an opportunity before he struck. And here, he was in the shadow of somebody else. His eyes narrowed as he spotted a smiling photograph, the face he bore now next to that of his adversary.   
_Damn them. I'll do things as I want them._  
With one angry swipe of his arm, Ganondorf sent the picture smashing to the ground in a halo of broken glass, before marching out of the darkened laboratory. _If only that boy were so easy to destroy in real life... _he thought, screwing up his eyes slightly as he strode through the door. Light - he had not seen such brilliant white light in a long time. No such light had existed in the Dark World since it had been the void of the Sacred Realm. It hurt to even look at it. 

He had more concerns, however. A group of students stood by the energy barrier that had sealed off the laboratory as he walked by. "Hey, Rob!" one of them started. "Have you got a minute to..."  
Ganondorf snapped round. "Don't call me that!" he hissed. "You do not even know who I _am_, boy!"  
"I was just... asking..." the young man murmured, unable to meet what he thought were his mentor's eyes. Sulphurous, burning pools replaced the blue lakes that had gazed from that face before, and he was unable to explain why. Even wearing sunglasses, he shied away from the menacing gaze.  
The dark king was about to walk away, but paused. A faint borrowed memory had surfaced. With a quick movement, he snatched the sunshades from the student's face. While the boy stepped back in shock, his friends protested. "What was that for?" they yelled at the departing figure, who had no words to spare for them.  
_They've got some nerve._

- 

-_flashback_- 

_"Hey! Looking for me?" Young Link looked up at the dark figure. The evil king seemed amused by the nerve of the child - so what if he'd grow up a hero? As he was, he was no threat. He'd seen the sword shatter in the explosion at the temple - a focused blast of energy had seen it ruined. He had nothing to fear._

_ "Foolish boy. Why do you think you can defeat me? You haven't got a chance."  
"I haven't, no..."  
Link began to slowly bring the mask he clutched to_ _his face, feeling adrenalin coursing through his body as he went. He was within inches of letting the transformation take him over, when a hand dropped onto his shoulder. He looked around - and stared in shock._

_"I think I have, however," Oni'kara remarked, looking at his younger self. "Get out of here. This is my battle, not yours." The young hero nodded briefly, still overawed, and sprinted back to where he had left his companion.  
This is for history itself, the Fierce Deity thought, drawing his sword and staring into the eyes of the beast that Ganondorf had become. The life he had led would never exist now. But the one he should have would._

_The fight was over quickly, with the helix blades of the Sword of Eternity destroying the monster Ganon in a blaze of silver light. It had been twelve years of his own time - a time that would now only belong in memory - since this battle had originally occurred, but he could still remember what had happened clearly. He'd learned a lot in that time, not least who he really was.  
And who the awestruck boy watching in the distance was, too. Oni picked up the copy of his own face from where young Link had dropped it and walked over. It felt strange, looking into his own eyes. "I believe this belongs to you," he said quietly as he began to pass the mask over - but paused.  
Or is it? he thought. Can I deny you the power that is your birthright - if that is the only way to ensure reality is untouched?_

_-flashforward_- 

His heart skipped slightly as he remembered what had happened two thousand years ago. There had been no other way. The powers stored within the Fierce Deity's mask had been locked away, to be released only by the strongest of magics. Perhaps the transformation had occurred once or twice more, but it would have taken all of the power available to the mask's owner to make it last for even minutes. The immortal half of the child hero's soul, too - Oni'kara could hardly kill his own spirit, by its very definition eternal, but that shadow of his own soul had been sent to sleep and separated from the young hero's human essence. There would be no second Guardian of Time. Then again, it had seemed one was enough. 

He thought for a minute. _I did everything in my power to prevent this - but it looks like there's only one thing to do._ Holding the mask tightly, he closed his eyes. Pure energy began to surge through his fingertips.  
_Another will have to use this power, one for whom it was never intended. I hope you can take this on, new hero. I'm giving you all the help I can here..._

- 

_Bad day, _Link thought, walking upstairs and throwing his school bag onto the bed. He gently touched the still-sore slash on his arm he had acquired only hours earlier, at a loss to explain why no-one had noticed the creature lurking in an alleyway. _Very bad day. Can't those things pick on someone else for a change? How the hell am I supposed to defend myself?_  
Sighing, he looked around, attempting to find the books he needed in the general confusion of his room. Something caught his eye. A parcel, untidily wrapped, rested on the desk by the computer. "Okay..." he muttered to himself. "What the heck is that? And who..."  
There was a movement outside his window, behind the curtain. Link span round, and stopped in surprise.  
"Hey!" he yelled. "Who are you?"  
The figure who had been sitting there looked round, but not in alarm. From what Link could see, whoever it was would have taken a lot to shock. "What are you doing there?" 

Oni'kara looked into the blue eyes of his young successor. It felt almost like looking back across time. Though all the Heroes of history had borne a slight resemblance to one another, which could be put down to heredity, it was still striking just how much Link Hunter looked like the watching warrior once had. They even favoured the same hairstyle. "Simply lending you a hand," he said quietly in response to the question. "No. Not a hand, to be precise."  
"What the...? How can you just show up in some ...improbable place, start talking in riddles, and..." a flustered Link responded.   
The Fierce Deity pretended not to hear him. "I'll give you one warning. Your new gift is a last resort. Don't take what you have received lightly, Link. Only use it if you've got no other way out, because _it_ may not allow you one." He gave Link a nod and dropped lightly out of sight. The next thing the young hero saw was the trail of exhaust from a black motorcycle as Oni sped away. 

"Okay. That was weird," Link muttered, sitting down and weighing the package in his hands. "Most people just knock." Tugging at a corner of the wrapping paper, he thought about what had just happened. It made no more sense for him doing so.  
His door opened, and an equally confused Zelda entered. "Who were you talking to? I could hear you shouting something..."  
"Shouldn't be so nosy," Link shrugged. "But honestly, I don't know. Someone who thinks it's okay to scare the life out of people. Weird eyes, I noticed that much. Might have been wearing white contacts, but...looked _natural_. "  
Zelda interrupted her brother. "White eyes? Sounds familiar. I'm thinking... platinum hair, leather jacket... am I right?" He nodded, surprised. She sighed. "Link... that was the person who saved my life that time. When I was attacked..."  
"You're not kidding?" She shook her head. "And now he's bringing me presents, too? Sheesh... You think we can trust him?"  
"I... I'm sure of it. Go on. Open it."  
"Alright..." Whoever had wrapped the parcel hadn't done a good job. They seemed to have been more concerned with getting as much wrapping on as fast as possible than securing it well. As Link pulled the last bubble-wrap away, he let out a long, low sigh. "Whoa. How the hell..."  
"All that fuss? It's just a mask! Who'd want to send you..."  
"Less of the 'just'. If this is... what I think it is, it belonged to one of the early heroes. If I was to put it on..." He started to move it towards his face. Zelda put her hand on his arm.  
"Are you sure you should be doing that?" she asked.  
"...No. Maybe not. I was told it was a last resort." Link hurriedly pushed the wrapping paper back around his new gift. "Whatever it does." 

He slowly walked away, downstairs and into the kitchen, thinking. _Don't use it? What does this thing do, anyway? I mean, they said it's supposed to give you the powers of... but what a stupid idea!  
Then again, I do need ...something..._ _Stupid monsters. Can't they ever leave a guy alone?_

- 

In a quiet area of the city, a lone figure walked. Things had changed more than he could ever have imagined. For all the Dark World had remained so much the same, the real world was almost beyond his comprehension. Despite that, he had tried to understand what he would control one day soon. No monsters roamed now, except those in human form. Something would have to be done about that. 

He watched a young man sitting on the street bench, a look of anger at the world on his face. Familiar, somehow, even if he couldn't place why immediately. It took some time to force the memory out from those areas locked away by their original owner. _Ah, yes...  
He'll do perfectly..._

Cal jumped at the feel of a hand on his shoulder. "Hey! What's the big..." he yelled, twisting round, and trying to see his assailant. At a first guess, he was reminded of some sort of a government official - or a spy. The dark glasses said that much straight away. Though the clothing could have been anybody's, it looked out of place on whoever this was.  
"Tell me this," the stranger asked. "You know one called..." he paused, reluctant to say the words - "Link Hunter, correct?"  
"That jerk? What do you want... I mean, yeah, I do."  
Unseen, Ganondorf smiled. "I can tell there is no love lost between you. You may think you hate him - but you are best of friends compared to how I feel..."  
"What? Who are you, anyway? And where do you get off..."  
"Someone who could... use your help, Calvin."  
He stopped. "How do you know my name? Only my parents call me that, but..."  
"That is unimportant. Come with me."  
Cal paused a moment, thinking. He wasn't sure what this stranger was up to, but he decided to leave caution alone. There was a strange feeling in his mind, a drowsy sort of awareness that seemed to be taking over. He could no more resist than fly by flapping his arms - and even if he had been fully conscious, he wouldn't have wanted to. "Count me in." 

Ganondorf looked around for a moment, before clasping his hand to Cal's throat. The boy could hear one hissed phrase before he passed out. "Certainly... There is one thing you can do for me _right away..._" 

- 

The class had hardly commented on Cal's disappearance the next day. He wasn't known for his attendance record. This week, however, he wasn't alone. Ralph had been absent since Wednesday, with Mellonie joining the list of those missing the next day. It was quickly put down to an unknown bug going around.   
Lynna had remarked on it as she walked to the school bus, Link remembered, running towards Creamy's Bar. "You'd better not have caught it, too.Otherwise, we're both sunk."   
"Uh - no," he'd replied. "I'm not going to worry about coming down with a-a-atchoo!" While she'd glared, he'd returned a slightly cheeky but nervous grin. _No. I've got bigger things to worry about._

That evening, Link had had more on his mind than a normal teenager on a first date. Trying to find something reasonable to wear had been the least of his concerns. He was more worried about whether it would look too obvious that he was hiding things, both fresh battle scars and the only weapon he could reasonably find. There was no way he was going to let Lynna know what was happening to him yet.   
His careful preparations had had a knock-on effect, however. _Trust me to blow it. Knowing my luck, she'll have been waiting for... _Arriving at the ice-cream parlour, he quickly spotted that Lynna was nowhere to be seen. She was probably just late too, he decided, and settled down to wait.  
Over the music playing, he could hear a shout. A girl's voice, followed by a reptilian hissing.  
Lynna's voice.  
He swore and ran after the sound, feeling the weight of his only weapon in his pocket. As much as he suspected that one small knife would be useless in the event of any serious monster attack, he couldn't help but feel slightly reassured by its touch. _Oh, great! And here I was thinking it was just me and Zelda got... which way was that? _The old town was a maze of alleyways and arches, some of which had been around for hundreds of years. The perfect place to get away - and the last place to look for someone, as Link was finding to his cost. He followed the footsteps as best he could to the very edge of the medieval buildings, where modern industrial structures started. Boxy sheds and disused factories took over the landscape now. There was a flicker of movement and light outside one of them. _Here goes nothing. _Making half a prayer, half a wish, under his breath, he followed whatever he had seen - hoping it hadn't been a car. 

The deserted building he found himself in seemed like a dead end. This couldn't be the right place, surely? There was no movement around. It wasn't quite dark, but he guessed the electricity was still on for some reason. Link turned round and headed for the door. 

He stopped in his tracks and looked upwards.   
That was what was causing the light.   
_Oh...my... is this what happened to you?  
All of you?_  
Four shining crystals formed an arch above the door. Inside each of them...  
Link almost heaved. That was impossible. There were people inside them. Ones he knew well at that.  
Especially since his best friend, his sister, and his possible girlfriend were among them. Zelda hung in the centre, trapped in a magenta prism. She looked understandably terrified. In a trap of red crystal, Ralph had his eyes closed, trying to mask his fear. A yellow prison held Lynna, holding her hands to her face, and a green one to her side caged her best friend. _What is going on here - why would everyone have... _Link thought, then stopped. 

Who _had_ brought them here, anyway?  
There was a laugh in the distance.  
A voice spoke directly into his mind. _Came looking, did you? _The laugh repeated. Oh, I see. _They're your _- the voice turned mocking - _little friends. _  
"Yeah... what do you want with them?"  
_None of your business, ...Link. Especially when you will be dead soon._  
"Who says?" _And how did you know my name?_  
"I do."  
There was a figure in the shadows. Link squinted to make it out. 

Immediately, he wished he hadn't.  
It looked like... himself. Or to be more precise, his shadow. Given three dimensions. _And a bad attitude, too... _he thought. 

Apart from the colours, there was still one noticeable difference. The shadow Link was carrying a sword, with a blade of night black metal, and dressed in combat clothing.   
_And here's me. Dressed up. Not exactly ready to fight, am I?  
I don't think he cares, somehow..._

-- 

A/N:  
Okay - if the flashback threw anyone out, that was a scene from Part One of the series. Might rewrite that book one day... 

I know this was delayed awfully. See the notes in the next 'chapter' for reasons. Can only hope this was worth waiting for... 


	8. Nemesis

**Generations**  
(Ratings increase to PG13 this chapter - purely a precaution as themes become darker. Might be language issues in future, too.)  
(Disclaimer: Haven't put one of these for some time, so I'm doing so now. The Legend of Zelda and all associated characters are owned by Nintendo - I'm just having a bit of fun with them until 'Wind Waker' is released in the UK - that's May 3, you lucky people everywhere else. Sob.) 

-- 

**_Chapter 7: Nemesis_**

-- 

"What are you?" Link whispered, under his breath. His hand slipped into his pocket to retrieve his penknife. Not that it would do much good. Whoever and whatever _this_ was had the advantage.  
"I think you can see who I am," his shadowy opponent replied. The voice was somehow familiar but impossible to place. Not his own, but he'd heard it many times before. "What's wrong? Afraid? You should be."  
"Shut it! If it's a fight you want, I'll give you one," Link snapped, although he knew it was a sham. "Just let them go, OK?"  
"Ah, so you do have a spirit, after all! Fine. If you win, they go free. But that's a very big 'if'. On the other hand - if you're dead, you won't know what my master has planned for them... and perhaps that'd be better for you." It was hard to see, but Dark Link smiled faintly.   
"Enough talking crap," his light counterpart spat. "You're the one who wanted to fight. You come here, then!"  
"Certainly." 

Silently, Link's opponent ran forwards.  
He swore to himself. While they'd been arguing, he'd almost forgotten about the sword. It was all too obvious now. Hurriedly, he dodged sideways and dived behind a metal crate. It bent under the sword blow but didn't break. Dark Link hissed. "You call this a fight?"  
_I call this staying alive, _Link thought, ducking away. Acidic orange light filtered through a dusty window and illuminated a rusted and broken pipe lying on the floor. Thinking quickly, he snatched up the makeshift weapon. At least it would give him something to block the attacks with for a time, even if it was no more than a matter of minutes. It could still be the difference between life and death. 

He heard a whisper behind him. "You're pathetic, you know that?" The voice sounded even more familiar saying those words. He could recognise his opponent's accent. In the heat of the moment, however, there was no way he could put a finger on it. Link spun around, surprised, but he was far from quick enough to defend himself. He managed to deflect the shadow's attack, but only succeeded in pushing the sword towards his face instead. The weapon's tip slashed a cut across it, just missing his eye. Furious, the pain flooding his system, he screamed and struck out on his own. Dark Link sidestepped it easily. "You disappoint me. I haven't been waiting nearly a thousand years to fight such a weak opponent." 

"Yeah?" _Say what?_ "What do you want with me, anyway?"  
"Only to see you destroyed. We were created as opposites, you and I. You were born a hero..." Dark Link spat the word. "I was always intended to be your nemesis. I've waited too long for this moment!" He circled round, on the attack again. This time, however, Link was ready. He dodged and rolled away from the blade of the black sword. 

The fight was far from fair. Any injuries seemed to be going one way and one alone. Despite his best efforts, Dark Link was still getting through his crude defences. Link could only grit his teeth and try to avoid or endure the attacks as well he could. 

_Some hero I'm making here, _he thought. _If I don't figure something out it'll be game over for sure._  
_No... I'm not giving up! This isn't a game! I'm going to get out of this!_

Amid the dust and weak lighting, Link could see a pile of crates in the corner of the warehouse. _Maybe... _Throwing the pipe away, he sprinted behind them. He could hear Dark Link's angry shouts of "Coward! Come here and fight me!" It didn't matter, however. All he needed was to lure his adversary over.   
With a groan of effort, he knocked the heavy stack into Dark Link's path. Although the shadow managed to destroy a couple, he was caught off guard. Holding his arms in front of his face, he dropped his sword to the floor before he realised what he had done. 

Seizing the opportunity, Link snatched the dark sword from the ground. Immediately, he wished he hadn't. A feeling of nausea swept over him from where he gripped the black hilt - both physical and mental. In his mind, every bad experience he had ever gone through began to creep out from the depths of his memory. 

Dark Link's burning eyes focused on him. "Give that back," he growled.   
"You want it?" an uncertain Link said, trying to push the sickening feeling to the back of his mind. "Come over here and get it!" Wildly, not knowing what he was doing, Link spun around quickly. The flat of the weapon smacked into the back of Dark Link's head.   
He let out one long yell before he fell to the floor unconscious. His heart racing, Link's fingers let go of the sword on their own as he looked around. 

_What just happened? I ... I can't believe it..._  
_I... I didn't... he can't be dead! I can't have..._

_What now?_

The four crystals that had been suspended in the air descended slowly to the ground, crumbling to dust and vanishing. Their occupants stumbled a little as they found their feet touching the floor again. They looked around at each other, confused as to where they were. "Everyone... we've got to get out of here! Quickly!" Link yelled. Ralph and Mellonie took his advice without really hearing it, out of sheer relief. Zelda gave her brother one quick look before he gestured at the door. Lynna, on the other hand, hung back. "What are you doing?" he asked, shocked.  
"What does it look like I'm doing? Waiting for you, of course. Someone has to. Are you alright?" She looked him in the eyes.  
"Do I look alright?" Link responded, snappily, before letting out a stressed sigh. He blinked, realising what he'd just done. "Sorry. Shouldn't take it out on you. But... we'd better move. I don't want to wait for our shadowy friend over there to wake up." Dark Link couldn't be dead, he was sure. It was nothing more than a feeling, but there was no way he could have been killed, Link kept telling himself as the recent events began to set in. _No way. I can't have._  
Lynna nodded, silent for a moment. "Of course. Let's go. You sure you can walk? I mean, you look a bit pale, you've been hurt pretty badly..."   
"I'm standing up, aren't I? Come on." 

They walked away quickly. Their companions were waiting just outside the gates. For a moment, no one could get his or her words out. It was Zelda who broke the silence. "What just happened?"  
"Your guess is as good as mine," Ralph remarked with a shrug. "I was just walking along, and something jumps on me. Next thing I know, I'm stuck in that damn cage."  
"Yeah. Same happened here," Mel added. "Wasn't doing anything special, and poof, you know what comes next. Guess it was the same for you two." The other girls nodded.  
Lynna paused for a second before responding. "Right. But the thing is - why? What have we got in common? Unless..." She looked across at Link. "Hell. It has to be. ...They didn't want us. They wanted _you_. We were just ...bait."  
Link's blood chilled. _All makes sense, I guess. _"Whoever 'they' are." He sighed. "And whoever they are, they want me dead. It's not like this is the first time I've been attacked. Zelda, too. Now that you're all involved - you're probably in danger, too." Letting out a long breath, he closed his eyes. "I've got to get to the bottom of this." 

"_We_ have, you mean," Ralph interjected. "I'm not letting you get all the credit. 'Sides, you're just going to get your butt kicked without us."  
"Same here," Lynna said softly. "I don't know many guys who'd go chasing after someone yelling. Run the other way, maybe - never go looking."  
Mellonie laughed. "And I'm not going to let you two get killed before your first kiss." Both Link and Lynna turned to glare, and she shrugged in reply. "It's only the truth."  
"My brother would go to pieces if it wasn't for me. No duh, I'm staying by him."  
"Zelda!" Link snapped. "But - well, you know." He blinked. "Thanks, guys. That means a lot to me. One thing, though, we'd better not tell anyone else. This is a big enough mess as it is." 

A chorus of replies came in the affirmative. The group made their way back out into the city lights, slowly breaking apart.   
"Hey, Link?" Lynna remarked as she started to walk away, her best friend by her side.  
"What is it?" he responded, surprised.  
She grinned. "You still owe me an ice-cream." 

- 

In a deserted warehouse, a shadow moved slowly. A dusty figure slowly got to his feet, and held his hand to his head. _How the hell did I get here? _he thought, sitting back down, weakened. His fingers idly brushed against the floor as he thought. _Last thing I remember, I was, I was... wait - what do I remember? Who am I, anyway? _No. That was wrong. He could vaguely recall something, halfway between a dream and reality. Fighting something. Someone_. Can't be. Since when do I have a... sword...  
_"Ahh! Crud!" he yelled, yanking his hand up as a blast of pain shot through it. Shocked, he sucked on his cut fingers and looked down. He hadn't been dreaming. That was real enough. Carefully, the youth picked up the shadowy weapon, dragon-winged, midnight-coloured, with a ruby set where hilt met blade. It seemed strangely familiar, though he was sure he had never seen it before in his life. Something he could grab on to. Wrapping it in his jacket, he slowly stood up and walked out of the building. 

Full moonlight shone outside, reflecting in the warehouse's cracked windows and off the racks of cables and antennas on its top. He paused and looked around. In the darkened glass, he could see his reflection. _Is that me?_ he thought, slightly confused. _I'm sure I'm not...  
No. Wait. It's all coming back now. Yeah - that's right. How long have I been out for? _He looked at his watch for a second. _Three days? Feels like it...  
Damn. Parents are going to kill me when I get back. Especially if they see me with this thing.  
(But there's no chance I'm getting rid of it. Finders keepers.)_

Cal shook his head and headed for the lights of the city, the last of the fog lifting from his mind but doing nothing to fill in the gaps it left. There was a hole in his life beginning where he had met that stranger. He could vaguely remember starting to follow him somewhere, then it had all gone blank until he had woken up minutes ago. _If I ever meet him again..._

- 

The lights were out in the windows of the Hunters' home when Link and Zelda walked up the driveway. Zelda couldn't help but keep looking at her brother's face. "I think you're going to have to wipe that mess away before you go in, you know. Mum's going to freak out if she sees you like that..."  
"Yeah," Link sighed, gingerly touching the painful slash between his eyes. "You got a hanky or something?"  
"Thought you did."  
"So much for that plan. We'd better go round the back. Any luck..." 

The curtains rustled, and the landing light flicked on. Link swore as the door opened and his mother's tired voice came through. "Who's there?" she asked, worried.  
"Just us," he replied, hesitantly. "Sorry we're late." _Please don't look out, Mum. You're not gonna like this..._  
"Us?"  
"Me and Zelda. Hang on, Mum, _don't..._" Link's voice was broken off by his mother's yell as she looked out on the darkened street. 

"What has happened to you, young man?" she shrieked, seeing her son bloodstained and injured, before stopping herself. Maybe it wasn't his fault, she thought. But by then it was too late.   
"I don't want to talk about it!" Link snapped back, virtually shoving past and running upstairs. "Leave me _alone_!" _A little sympathy might be nice? After I just got myself nearly killed?_

- 

Dark hair falling away from his face, Cal slumped into his pillow. His eyes drifted shut. It had been a close one, getting back in without waking his parents up. He'd be in enough trouble anyway for disappearing - but that could wait until morning. 

_...A voice talks to him, almost mocking in its soft tones. In a way, it reminds him a little of Hunter's, although as he listens he can't think just why. "You've made me fail again," it scoffs.  
"Who are you?" he asks, startled.  
"I'm you, and you're me. It's as simple as that. And you're that weak part of me without the courage to do what he knows he must, the part who does not even understand what he is." The voice pauses. "For your mind is my mind, from here on in..."  
It falls silent. He looks down at his hands - but he no longer recognises them..._

With a cold shiver running down his spine, Cal woke and fumbled for the bedside lamp. The unexpectedly brilliant light stung his eyes, and it took him a short while to get them open again. _That was... who was... say what? Weird dream..._ he thought. Almost involuntarily, he found himself looking at the backs of his hands.  
Somehow, they didn't look right. The colour looked a little strange, as if an unseen light was casting faint shadows on his skin. His tired mind didn't manage to register what had happened. It was merely another strange thing to put alongside his three day amnesia. He glanced over at his alarm clock. 4:39. With a groan, he hit the light switch, and rolled over into a dreamless sleep. 

- 

"Link? _Link_!" Zelda yelled, knocking heavily on the bathroom door.  
"Leave me _alone_! Can't a guy have five minutes to himself?" her brother shouted back, angrily, over the sound of running water.  
"I just thought..." She paused. "I thought you might want to talk." 

It was a few minutes before Link finally surfaced, in pyjamas and an old dressing gown. He looked better just for getting out of his battle-torn clothes, and his colour had returned to normal. The most obvious relic of the fight was the cut on his face, clean but still sore - as was most of his body. "Sorry I snapped, Zel'," he apologized quietly.  
"It's okay. Don't blame you," she responded with a shrug. "Guess you just wanted some time to yourself."  
"Yeah," Link sighed, and closed his eyes. "How much longer is this going to go on for?"  
"What?"  
Link gestured loosely. "Everything. Monsters in alleyways. Getting myself chopped up. And you..." He let out a deep breath. "I don't see how you can stay so relaxed. You were captured by that... whoever, whatever... but you still seem okay."  
"Believe me. It was no fun. But... I know you're looking out for me," Zelda smiled. "And... Whoever that was, you know, the person who saved me that time..."  
"The one who sent me a present?"  
Zelda laughed. "Yeah. Him. I get the feeling he's looking out for both of us."  
Link paused before replying. "If that's the case - where was he tonight, then?"  
For a moment, his sister was silent. "It was just an idea." 

- 

He had little success trying to get to sleep that night. Any position he lay in seemed to press on some cut or bruise - he hadn't registered a lot of them as he fought, but now they were coming out to haunt him. 

_...A strange room, full of an unearthly glow. It looks a little like a scientific laboratory, but more like a wizard's lair. He's not alone here. There's a figure across the room, though he cannot make out who it is.   
Suddenly, the other person looks up. Their eyes meet. "Dad?" Link murmurs, sure yet surprised. Somehow, his father looks different to how he had last seen him, and the change is not for the better.  
"You can't stop me now..."  
"Stop you doing what? Poking the universe?"  
"You have no idea..." his father replies, and laughs. Not the sort of laugh Link would have associated with him - there is a darker quality to the sound. "You've stood in my way long enough."  
"Oh, yeah? You usually don't say 'get lost' in so many words, but it's not like I don't know what you want," Link replies, sarcastically. "What's with the change?"  
"Do you even know _who_ you are talking to, boy?" The figure he had thought to be his father lunges forward, the face twisting into that of a monster as he does so..._

Link's eyes opened suddenly, staring into a room illuminated only by his alarm clock flashing 'four-thirty-nine' forlornly into the darkness. _Again with the weird dreams. There's probably something very psychological going on here. I could probably look that one up on a book. At least nothing was trying to beat me up that time - by my standards, that was pretty sane!  
But it felt... that didn't feel like subconscious crud. What's going on?_

- 

Ganondorf laughed wildly as he looked into the gateway. _So... this is where it must begin, is it? Two thousand years since I was sealed away... nine hundred since I last even saw the light of this world.  
It still sickens me... but it will no longer._

This first attack would only be a small one - a trial run. He was still gathering his strength. Hyrule itself would have to wait.   
His eyes were set on a smaller prize - but one none the less valuable. A map, drawn sketchily from the memories of his body's old owner, hung on a nearby wall. 

The Hunters' home was highlighted in a red circle. He had one shot, and no intention of missing. 

_I won't let you get away from me again..._

-- 

A/N: At last, I'm back! What? Don't groan... It's been a long time, no see, I know. Sometimes, you've got to put these things to one side. But this story's coming back on track once more, and my computer has become a sanctuary for plot bunnies. Sorry for the delay, but the next chapter is nearly done, so watch this space...  
Big shouts go to Maniac Mosli, Huck, Eruantale, Link0273, Hotaru and anyone I've forgotten for reviewing, and a special thank you to Naela and Talythia for beta-ing this chapter.  
See you next time... 


	9. Nightrise

**Generations**

-- 

**_Chapter 8: Nightrise _**

-- 

_It's been pretty quiet since that whole...weird... shadow clone thing went on. Did I do it, already? Was he what was behind everything? ... Nah. Can't be. It just seems... too little. No, and didn't he say...  
Urgh. My head hurts. (At least everything else stopped hurting, though.)  
_Idly, Link stared into the empty space above his bed. There wasn't much he could decide on in his life at the moment. It was strange, he thought. He would have given anything to get his old life back only days ago. But, in a way, he was already missing the excitement. _If by 'excitement' I mean life-threatening super-crap... just wish I knew what was going on now..._

The day after the attacks had been a strange one. It had been like no one wanted to be the first to say anything in school. The teachers had had to be satisfied with 'I didn't feel so good' as an excuse for their absences, and although they had attempted to ask Link about the injuries he had acquired he had only been able to come up with 'I had an accident, OK, sir?'. Between the group who had been caught at the warehouse, only meaningful looks and loaded cryptic comments indicated that anything out of the ordinary had occurred. Unfortunately for Link, his old adversary had shown up again, but even he seemed preoccupied. _Almost like he was involved too,_ Link thought with a shake of his head. _Good job I never saw him. There's one person I wouldn't save from a dark alley._

It was quiet. The television was barely audible downstairs. A faint hint of music came through the wall from Zelda's room. Other than his sister and himself, there was nobody home. His mother had gone to visit family out of town. And as for his father... _Dad - where are you? Okay, it's not like we get on, but if you at least rang home... _Silently, he shook his head, settling his mind again. 

Something caught his ear as he lay back down. Soft of rumbling sounds seemed to be coming from outside. He quickly dismissed it as a passing truck, though he couldn't imagine why one would be coming through the suburbs.   
He barely had a chance to relax again before an ear-rattling pulse of sound shook the windows. His heart began to race. Quickly, he leapt off the covers, pelting onto the landing and downstairs. The rumbling and roaring sounds outside were becoming louder by the second. 

Over the explosions, he could hear a more familiar sound. "Whoa! Link! Wait for me!" Zelda yelled, chasing him down the stairs. "What's going on?" she asked, fear starting to touch her voice.   
He paused by the front door for a moment. "You can hear as well as I can..." he said, worried himself. "I don't know either. I was going to look..."  
"Something tells me that's not fireworks," Zelda murmured, almost inaudibly over the rising noise. "It's just... I..."  
Link sighed. "We've got to see what this is..." he remarked anxiously, pushing open the door and stepping outside. 

It hadn't been fireworks.   
Link couldn't tell what it was. In pure shock and fear, a shout of "What the hell?" was the only response he could come up with. _What... what is _that? _Looks like... sort of a..._  
Zelda ran out alongside him, and stopped. "What's... my gods, what's that..." she whispered, spotting what her brother had.   
The source of the explosions was clear. A strange shockwave, somehow tinted in green light, roared up the street. At the moment, it was still a distance off - but if it could be that loud, that far away, they could imagine the destruction it would cause as it drew nearer. She found herself shuddering with shock.   
Link looked at her face. "Come on, Zel'! We've got to get out of here!" he said, trying to pick her spirits up. "You want to stay here and get crushed?" As he spoke, a fireball was flung past them. Both heads turned to follow it. "You heard me! _Run_!" 

This time, no prompting was needed. Together, they started to sprint down the road. Neither had ever thought of themselves as a good runner. The phenomenon that was gaining with every step was all that they needed to potentially break a record.   
In the mad dash, there was no time to look where they were going. Link didn't realise Zelda had fallen until he heard a shout behind him. He turned back to see his sister sitting on the ground, looking a little dazed. "Zelda?" he yelled. "What's up?"  
"Just... I'll be okay. ...Yeah. I'll be fine." She got back to her feet with a number of faint 'ouch' sounds. "Better not hang around, right?"  
"Right!" 

Their brief pause had lasted a little too long. The shockwave was gaining quickly. While the Hunters started to run, they couldn't outrun it much longer. The air itself seemed to have become their enemy as it lifted them from the ground. 

The last thing Link or Zelda could remember clearly for a time was the ground approaching. The next was total nothingness as they hit it. For a while, all was quiet. 

- 

Slowly, Link came around. One eye crept open. Zelda was crouching down by his side. "Wh... what happened?" he croaked.  
Zelda wiped a tear out of her eye. "You're alright!" she managed to laugh. "When the shockwave hit... I woke up pretty quick, but you... you were out for ages... look around..." Her words tapered out.   
Link took her advice as he got to his feet. For a second, he wished he was still unconscious. The houses around them had been ripped to shreds. The ones that had any walls standing were the lucky ones. Bits of debris were still falling out of the sky.   
Even worse, there were no signs of life - Either everyone had already escaped, or - Link put a hand gently on his sister's shoulder as the other option preyed on his mind. Zelda's eyes were screwed up, as she tried to ignore where she was. Unknowingly, the same thoughts were running through both minds. _This can't be happening_. "Come on," he said softly. "We'd better get somewhere a bit safer."  
"Define 'safe'," Zelda muttered, following Link's footsteps. She attempted to ignore the scenery around her, staring at the floor. She could see enough, however, to glimpse something amid the rubble. Her heart leapt in shock. She froze for a second, but managed to summon enough strength to tap her brother on the arm. "Look..." she nearly whispered as he turned to look. 

It seemed to be someone almost hidden by the rubble. Only the face was exposed. Nervous, they moved in closer. As they did so, it started to look less like a human face. The angles were wrong, the eyes looked darkened, and who would have... Link stopped. "What's _that_ doing here?" He thought for a second, realising what the implications were. _That was lying on my shelf... to get here, must have been blown out... the house must have been just as ruined as everywhere else! I never stopped to think about it... oh, gods... this is not happening...  
How the heck could something have been thrown all this way, anyway? Looks in perfect condition, too! Something else to rank on the list of Strange Things In My Life. One thing comes out okay from all this, and it's a weird present. _He shook his head and picked the mask off the floor. It was in just as good condition as he'd thought from a first glance.  
Zelda walked up. "That what I think it is?"  
Link nodded. "Yeah. You know how it is, things turn up everywhere..." he tried to joke, but his heart wasn't in it. "Come on. Let's go." 

- 

Their path took them past a trail of devastation. The sounds of destruction were faintly audible in the distance, but by this point they were no louder than fireworks and fast cars. The air was still unfriendly, however. The way was strewn with rubble, and the remains of more than one crashed car. With every step, dread forced its way deeper into both their hearts. 

Link slid to a halt as he rounded a corner. No longer paying attention to her surroundings, Zelda almost ran into his back. Silent, he put out a shaking hand, pointing to the scene in front of them.  
The area was devastated. What had been buildings were just ruins - and their occupants were just as ruined. Lifeless figures lay on the ground. A group of monsters - some cyclopean, some pig-like, some resembling nothing more than balls of slime - were scouring the area for victims.   
Zelda, shuddering, turned pale. "Dear gods..." she whispered, screwing up her eyes to block out the carnage. "This... this can't be happening..." 

One of the creatures' heads snapped round. Determined, they began a charge towards the horrified pair. Zelda shot a terrified glance to her brother.  
"Get out of here!" he snapped. "Go on! _Go_!"   
She span round and began to run. "But what about..." Any answer of Link's was broken off by a monster's mad leap on top of him. Yelling in shock and pain, he kicked wildly to get it off.   
As he finally shook off his attacker, he yelled back to his sister. "Don't worry about me! Just save yourself!" He struggled slowly to his feet as Zelda took to hers, not caring where she was going. 

Link's mind spun. _What do I do now?... _he thought. With an icy certainty, the answer came to him.  
He began to scan the ground around his feet to see where he had dropped the mask. His enigmatic visitor's words came back to him swiftly. _Don't use it unless you've no other way out..._  
Two of the pig creatures advanced, menace in their movements. _Right now... I don't think I do_. 

Slowly, Link's fingers closed in on it. He could almost feel the energy that came pulsing through even before they made contact. _What do I do? Am I supposed to put it on? _he thought, lifting it hesitantly towards his face. Its first touch to his skin was smooth, almost warm. Yet within a split second, that comfort turned to almost an agony. A feeling like an electric discharge tore through his body. Unable to stop himself, he screamed out loud.  
Zelda stopped for an instant in her flight, and watched. 

- 

Half way across the city, running through a deserted street, a figure in black paused in his tracks, screwing up his eyes and letting out a gasp. A pulse of raw, foreign emotion flooded through his mind. Something was touching his soul. It didn't take him long to work out what was happening. 

_So, _Oni'kara thought. _Things are bad enough for you to call on the powers you were lent, Link? I just hope you understand what you are doing, young hero..._

- 

Link seemed to be imprisoned in a cloud of energy, which swirled around his location. In its heart, he could just be seen, wrapped in shadows. Even as Zelda looked on, the figure that seemed to be her brother was changing, growing.   
In a flare of light around him, the electric prison that held Link collapsed and imploded. In its centre, a human shape, but not that which had stood there before. 

Link stood, stunned, his mind slowly catching up with what had just taken place. Slowly, he looked around, his hair blowing in front of his face. He instinctively raised a hand to brush it away, before noticing. _White? Since when have I... what am I wearing? Armour?  
_Quickly, he glanced down to see what had become of him.  
_What's... what's happened to me?_ he thought, in a complete state of shock. It was hard enough seeing everything around him change, without being changed himself. With a wrench, he pulled his attention away from his own transformed body to everything he could see around him, though his heart was still racing with emotion.  
The monsters, themselves distracted by the recent light show, had begun to move in again. Link stared back for a moment, plotting his next move. It felt like something had just been unlocked inside him. Letting impulse guide his movements, his hand went to his shoulder, drawing a strange sword from his back. 

_All right, _he thought, a grin spreading across his face. _This should even the odds out..._  
With a hoarse yell, Link charged forwards, feeling energy coursing in his blood. His first wild lunge took three of the monsters down without even thinking. On the corner of his vision he could make out Zelda, watching, at the same time both admiring and terrified. There was no way he could let his enemies get any further.  
_If I'm a Hero - a warrior - this is what I am here for..._  
Two cyclops approached him from either side. He lashed round in a vicious circular swing, before lunging at a smaller target behind him. Every sense was attuned to where his next opponent was coming from. None of them stood much of a chance. None of them had counted on this sort of resistance in their animalistic minds. 

Within a matter of minutes, all had fallen, their bodies turning to dust. Link stood, dazed, staring into space. The mist of adrenalin cleared from his mind, and he sank to his knees. "Wh... what just happened..." he murmured, trying to make sense of what he had just done.   
Zelda walked closer, unsteadily. "You tell me," she remarked, shaking her head softly. "That's you... Link... isn't it?"  
"Yeah..." he remarked, looking away, a little unsure himself. _Of course it's me. But - who am I, now?_  
His sister blinked. "Of course. But... how?" she asked. "Was it... that mask... you put that on, didn't you?"   
Link nodded slowly, not sure of what to say. Unconsciously, he ran his fingers under his jaw and chin. It didn't _feel_ like there was anything there. The only thing he could feel was Zelda's sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "It's not so bad, I guess. I just... don't know what's going on..."  
"What do you mean?" a surprised Zelda asked.   
"This," Link commented, gesturing. "I don't mind this - new look, least for now... but it's just got me confused..."  
"Me, too." Zelda paused, thinking. "I mean, how could you end up like that?"  
He shrugged. "You said it yourself. Guess it must be that mask."  
"I thought it might be..." Zelda said, nodding as she looked at the changes to her brother's face. "But that still doesn't make any sense. It was just a... a thing. Some bit of wood. It shouldn't have..."  
Link thought for a moment. "Should, shouldn't... I think this was what _should_ have happened. I remember, he said, I was only to use it in a time of need..."  
"...I guess you don't get much needier than this. But..." Zelda trailed off. "Oh, Link..." she said, smiling softly, trying to reassure herself by reassuring her brother.   
For a moment, there was silence. "What's next, then?" Link remarked, starting to get to his feet.  
Zelda closed her eyes. "I... I don't know." 

They began to walk on. The explosions had stopped, now. No more monsters were to be seen. The city was desolate and silent, except for the sounds of the wind and two pairs of feet.  
Suddenly, Link stumbled, snatching at his head and letting out a yell. Startled, Zelda felt herself following suit. "What? What is it?" she asked, shocked.   
Link's answer sounded incoherent. "I don't know - there's... someone's... Someone else is in my head..." he groaned, screwing up his eyes. He staggered for a moment before collapsing to the floor.  
"What do you mean?" Zelda almost yelled, her jaw dropping as she crouched down beside him. "Wake up! Come on... this isn't funny..." She only began to relax as he rolled over onto his back, breathing heavily, but apparently unhurt.  
With a yelp, he sat up. His eyes flew open, blazing a furious white. Zelda jumped back with a start.   
"What was that?" Link croaked. "Did I..."  
"You passed out. Had me worried. But... I think you'd better tell me what happened, instead..."  
"I heard a voice..." he whispered.   
Zelda looked at him strangely. On top of everything else, this hardly rated on the scale of today's strangest events, but it was no less disconcerting for that. "What sort of voice?"  
Link paused. "It sounded... I think... like the person who gave me the mask in the first place."  
Zelda took her time before responding. "Really?" She blinked. "What was it?"  
Her brother glanced aside. "It sounded like some sort of a warning. There's worse to come. That's what I was hearing." Silently, Zelda closed her eyes and shook her head. Link picked up on the motion quickly. "What's wrong?"  
"Everything," she replied softly. "This... this just doesn't feel good. For all we know, everything's been ruined, you've been transformed into some sort of..." she stuttered, trying to think of the word.  
"I told you already. I don't mind it."  
"...That's not the point. Out there, you looked so, so - I don't know, fierce, terrible - and that was one thing, but now you're hearing voices, too? If we're going to be trapped in the middle of something even worse than this, we might as well know what sort..."   
By this point, Zelda's sentences had degenerated into random gasps. Quietly, Link put his hands on her shoulders. "Calm down, Zel'. It'll be okay."  
She closed her eyes, talking deep but choppy breaths in an attempt to steady her nerves. "Fine. Fine. But... now what? What do we do now?" she asked, not really expecting any answer. 

Link shook his head. "I - I don't know. Think we'd best keep moving, though. I get the feeling we're still not safe here."  
"You think we'll be safe anywhere?" Zelda responded.   
Link merely shot a moonlight glance back at her and kept walking. 

-- 

A/N: The last chapter took months. This one took days (well, first draft did anyway). Strange... and I still manage to take ages uploading! 

And an artwork update... (Note: take the spaces out of the addresses.)  
For a picture of our new F.D. Link:   
members.aol.com/ dragonheart360/ fd-hunter.gif 

Our hero in a more classic style:   
members.aol.com/ dragonheart360/ linksketch1.jpg 

Another view of this chapter's beginning:   
members.aol.com/ dragonheart360/ gen8comic.gif (I intend to do a few of these. Any suggestions for scenes...) 

Credits: Thanks to Link0273, Huck and Maniac Mosli for the reviews. Also, thanks to Naela for the beta read, and to another AIM-based friend of mine for kicking me into writing this. (You know who you are.) 


	10. The Morning After

**Generations**

-- 

**_Chapter 9: The Morning After_**

-- 

"Link!" hollered Zelda, running to keep up with her brother's lengthened strides. "Wait up! Some of us are still..."  
He paused, grinning faintly. "Sorry, Zel'. Guess I'm just getting carried away."  
"Well - stop it," she snapped. "You've been marching off, and it's not like we know where we're going. Most of the roads are blocked. And for all we know, we could be the..." She choked. "We could be the last people alive in the city - in the world..."  
Link shook his head. "Stop thinking like that. We can't be. And..." He paused for a second, closing his eyes. "Even if we are, we've got to keep looking, right? Find our way out of this mess?"  
"I... I guess," his sister sighed. "No, you're right. Someone's got to have survived. I just wish I knew where." She shoved her hands into her pockets. As she did so, a grin lit up her face.  
Link looked at her strangely. "Okay. What are you laughing about now?" He rolled his eyes out of habit. "Great. You've flipped." 

Zelda laughed. "No, I'm still sane. I'm just thinking clearly for once."  
"For you, that _is_ flipped."  
She glared. "Very funny. " Her expression softened. "But... why are we running around like idiots trying to find someone," Zelda said, pulling her hand out of her pocket, "when we can get in touch with them the usual way? Think we can get a signal through?"  
A grin split Link's face as he spotted what Zelda was holding. "Why didn't you _tell_ me you had your mobile phone?"  
"You didn't ask. Can you remember Aunt Cassie's number?" she responded, switching it on.  
"...Sorry. Nope. That's too far away, anyway." He paused, and snapped his fingers. "Ring Lyn'! She lives on the other side of town, so... " _She'd better be okay. I didn't save her from that shadow person, that - I don't know, dark me - for this to happen..._ "One-seven-two-four-double zero. Try that." _Please..._

Her heart fluttering, Zelda punched in the number, paused, and passed the phone over. "You'd better talk. She's your..."  
"Whatever." There was an anxious wait as the phone rang. _Come on. Come on. Be okay. Be there... please be there..._  
The answer came at last, crackling with static but clear enough. "Hello? Who's..."  
Link's heart jumped with relief as he heard the voice. "It's me, Lyn'. " _I think so, anyway._  
"Link? What? You..." Lynna sounded choked with emotion. "I was starting to think... I mean, you were..."  
"I was what?"  
"It's all on the news, you idiot!" She was half-laughing, half-crying. "Half the city's been ruined... some bits are just damaged, we just managed to avoid it, but there's a strip that's completely destroyed, and your house was right in the middle. They thought no-one there had... had survived..." Lynna ran down, unable to speak much more.   
"I was lucky, I guess. Me and Zelda are both just about okay. I'm... not quite feeling myself, though."  
"I'm not surprised. Where are you? There's police everywhere, you should have seen someone, mum's having a hell of a time at the station..."  
"I bet. This used to be..." Link paused, looking for any evidence of where he actually was. A street sign poked out from under the debris. With his newly enhanced strength it was easy enough to pull it out. "Think this was Ridge Avenue."  
"Okay... wait! Wait! You're still in the middle of... it..."  
"You're telling us? We've been running around trying to find our way to anywhere that looks normal! The roads are all blocked with junk - it's impossible to get anywhere!"  
Lynna paused. "From what I've seen, things clear up if you head east, along Saria Road - that sort of way." 

_Great, _Link thought._ We've been heading in the wrong direction all this time._

"I'm just thinking, now... have you got anywhere to stay tonight? Now..." Lynna's voice wobbled, as she tried to put words to what felt like a sensitive subject.  
"What do you think?" Link halfway snapped, surprised at the question. "Mum's in Hyrule City. Dad's - well, I haven't seen him in a week, gods know what he's up to. And, in case you kind of missed what I've been saying, our house is currently wrecked... Where do you think we're staying?"  
"Look. I'll sort something out. You can stay at our place tonight, if your folks are away. Ask Zelda - is she okay sleeping in my room?"   
Link looked over. His sister had caught the conversation, and nodded. "She'll be fine."  
"Good. And you... I don't think Alex is going to mind you taking his room, seeing as he's away at university."  
"Thanks, but... I don't know..." _I can't... Not like this! Then again... _"Look. I'll get there as quickly as I can. Just - don't tell your parents, okay?"  
Lynna's voice down the phone sounded puzzled. "You're not making any sense, Link. I'm going to have to..."  
He sighed. "Okay. But... can you hold them off until I get there? There're things I'm going to need to explain - uh - face to face." He raised a hand to his own for a second.   
"Uh... okay. I'll see you then."  
"Okay! See you!" 

Link passed the phone back to Zelda, whose expression told a story he didn't want to hear. "Link..." she started. "It's not going to be a good idea if you come along..."  
"What do you mean?" he asked, incredulous. "I'm not hanging around here!" 

Zelda paused, trying to come up with the right words. "Do - do you even know what you _look_ like?" she asked.   
"Duh. I've heard of mirrors. Last time I checked, blue eyes, long ears, thin nose, scar still from that fight... what do you..." He noticed the look in his sister's eyes quickly. "I've said something stupid, haven't I?" She nodded. "Well, that figures. Shouldn't have thought it was just a change of clothing and a new hairdo. Go on, then."  
"You'd better look for yourself next time we pass something that'll do as a mirror. That mask changed your face, too."  
"Makes sense, I guess." Link was beginning to have a sinking feeling. "It's what they _do_. But..." He put an experimental hand up to his face to check. "Still _feels_ the same. There's no edges or anything. Just normal skin."  
"It's hard to explain. You're still - _you_. Still all the same shape features, and stuff like that. But... no, you'd better look for yourself. Just be prepared for a shock." 

A car by the side of the road provided the mirror they had needed. An uncertain Link leaned in close to look - and swore out loud as he saw himself, stepping back in surprise.   
_What the.. you mean... that's _me_? Those colours... hang on, weren't those on the mask already? That's okay, I get that, makes sense...   
But heck, my eyes... what's with my eyes?_ He leaned in again, trying to see. Despite his best efforts, Link found himself unable to spot any detail in their snowy glow. His heart thumped. _That's wrong, that's just so..._  
_Hell... what am I? _Another thought was hot on its tail. _  
What's everyone else going to think I am?_

He shook his head. It was dark. And with this much trouble around, who would be out and looking? _If I spook them, it's their problem, isn't it?_ "Right. Better get going, then."  
"I'm not paying for the bus," Zelda said with a grin.   
Link found himself returning the smile in spite of what was happening. "Does it look like I'm hiding any spare change in here?" he remarked. "Whoever designed this armour didn't put in pockets..." 

- 

The doorbell didn't have a chance to stop ringing before Lynna had got it open. "Zelda - you made it? That's great!" she laughed, before spotting something - or someone - that was wrong. "But... where's... wasn't he with you..."  
Zelda sighed. "Yeah, Link's fine. He's here, too. Round the side of the house."  
Lynna looked at her quizzically. "What's wrong? Why's he hiding round there?" She shook her head. "Your brother's great, but he can be such an idiot..."  
"Nothing like that. He's just... uh... not quite himself... he didn't want anyone to see him as he is."  
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lynna's heart sank. "Was he hurt? Is that it? I've got to see..."  
Zelda was pushed aside. "Wait!" she yelled, but was cut off by a shout of Lynna's. She ran round the corner. 

Lynna stood, frozen, staring up at Link. "Who are you?" she whispered, unable to recognise the face she had last seen earlier that day behind the coloured streaks and glowing eyes. "I was told..."  
"It's me..." He paused, seeing no recognition in her face. "It's Link."  
"You're... you're not..." Lynna stammered. "Look. I know... this is... you don't look anything like..." As she looked more closely, she was slowly starting to see his familiar features.   
"I know. I said I wasn't feeling myself." He smiled softly. "Look. I'll prove it to you. When all this is over, I'll buy you that ice cream I promised, right?"  
She blinked and caught herself laughing. That sounded so much like the Link she knew. She forced herself to look past the ferocious exterior. "Okay," she smiled. "You can come in. Don't worry - " she started, seeing Link react - "there's no-one else in. No-one's going to see you."  
Link breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks." 

The three young people - even if one of them hardly looked it any more - walked round to the back of the house. Lynna and Zelda were first through the door. Link quickly followed, after a painful reminder that his new form was closer to eight feet tall than his natural height. 

Even in this strange situation, normalcy still had a way of surviving, and the television's comforting sound came from the living room. What was on, however, was far from regular.   
A map came up as a news announcer talked with a practiced calm. She had repeated the same facts too many times that night. While her eyes said they just wanted to get away from there, her mouth went through the motions.  
"The strange shockwave is believed to have started in the location of the University of Kakariko buildings - although, amazingly, they appear to have survived untouched. Even more amazing is the way in which it appears to have travelled. A natural explosion would travel out in all directions around the source. This - phenomenon - appears to have confined itself to a narrow band. As yet, there is no plausible explanation."  
Zelda stared at the street map. "That's no coincidence..." she whispered to Link, shock setting back in. "That's _deliberate_. Look - our place is right there..."  
"Was," Link muttered. But - _the uni?_ he thought. _Hope you're okay, dad..._

- 

From the highest point of the university buildings, Ganondorf watched the world outside the windows. Slowly, but surely, his influence was spreading. There was no way to reach what had been Robert Hunter's laboratory - and, more than that, no way to reach many of the scientific buildings.   
Perhaps that was for the best. Anyone who had managed to breach the defences would have seen the interiors already transformed beyond recognition into something akin to the Dark King's lair of old.   
It would have been the last sight they saw.  
_Except_, Ganon thought. _It is one thing to have the beasts of the Dark World at my call.  
But perhaps I need those more closely allied to this one, instead._

The city spread into the distance. It was easy to see the destruction he had already caused, as a wide trail of debris scarred the view - a band of darkness in the middle of the city lights.  
_Perfect.  
He couldn't escape that..._

- 

It wasn't easy to fall asleep in armour, Link soon found out, and even less so when the bed was designed for someone two feet shorter than his current height. Curling up as tightly as he could, he tried to put the events of the day out of his mind, but they weren't going away. The sky was almost turning light before he managed to drop off. 

_He's in the centre of a ruined temple - the marble and granite architecture reaches to the sky. It looks like it was a beautiful spot once, and even now, it retains the same splendour, though grass grows in the rubble around him. He walks forwards, looking around. Somehow, he knows he's dreaming. Nothing's told him, nothing's obvious enough to hint at his mind that this isn't real - but he's certain.  
"Hello, Link," a voice says behind him - it's strangely familiar. He whips round to look. His enigmatic visitor is leaning against a pillar. This time, something's different about him. His eyes are glowing a brilliant white - much as Link remembers his own currently are.  
Link takes a step back in surprise. "Who - who are you?"  
"Someone who wants to help you."  
"Fine," he sighs. "Now can we put that into less enigmatic terms? You know my name - how come I don't know yours?"  
His visitor nods. "Fair enough. My name's Oni'kara. Most people who know it just shorten it to Oni."  
"That's... kind of unusual..." Then again, I can't talk, Link thinks. Mine's not exactly common.  
Oni half-smiles. "Not unusual. Just old." He pauses. "I've been looking to talk to you for a while..."  
"About what?"  
He picks up Link's armoured hand. "I think you know what."  
"You got me like this, didn't you?"  
"It's my power you're using."  
"Not much help."  
"If you knew where it came from, perhaps that would be..."  
"But what the heck do you..."_

"...mean?" Link mumbled, finding himself on the wrong side of consciousness unexpectedly. _Weird dream. (Then again, weird dreams aren't weird any more.) Maybe there's something more to it... I mean, I remember now, didn't I dream about fighting - whatever he was, call him Dark Link, or something - before? So maybe this is real. How, I'm not even going to try and guess... Least, if that was real, I know his name now. That's a start._

The clock read six-thirty in the morning. Link was certain that sleep was no longer on the menu. He stared up at the ceiling for a while, before swinging his legs off the bed. The sound of his heavy metallic boots on the floor made him jump, but no one had apparently heard. 

He looked around. A computer sat at the side of the room. In a second, Link felt an idea leap into his brain.  
_Hell - why not? Think they've got broadband here, anyway... who's going to know?_ He dived onto the system, and working quickly, fired off an email. _Probably not the most sophisticated approach here, but so what?_

_To: ganondorf@globecom.cl. Re: Help me!_ Link paused. _Ha. _

_Hey, Garry? You there? Look, I really have to talk... try and get online at - _Link glanced at the clock - _five p.m. my time. Think it'll be about midday where you are... this is urgent... hope you get this before then...  
_Another idea occurred to him, as a forgotten fact crept into his mind. _Something deity's mask... that was it._ Link began to type again. The keys felt too small for his fingers. _Would you mind checking something for me, though? I need information on a mythical figure. I think he was the god of war, or something... name's Onikahra. (I'm not sure on the spelling).   
Thanks so much... I'll see you then..._

- 

Later, Link stared out the window. This was possibly the dullest day of his life, he thought. The novelty of his new form was soured by the fact that it confined him to the one room. The adrenalin-fuelled mood of last night had worn off, and the prospect of being stared out held very little appeal. Lynna and Zelda had both been in to see him, but they hadn't been able to spend much time together. The Bowman family were beginning to get suspicious about the noises coming from what should have been an empty room.  
_Rock and a hard place, _he thought. _Lovely. Go stir crazy, or... I can't take this any more! I am _out_ of here!   
But... where can I go?_

Slowly, an idea dawned on him. It didn't even seem to have come from within his mind, but his heart.   
_There's one place that no-one's going to go...  
I've got to go back and check. Look for survivors.   
(And it won't hurt if I get the chance to smash a few more monster heads, will it?)_

He paused. _Did I just think that? Whoa... this is getting to me more than I thought..._

He crouched on the window ledge for a moment, then leapt, landing lightly on his feet.  
_Hope there's no reporters there..._

- 

The original portal to the Dark World flickered brightly. Ganon whipped round to see what was happening. _I didn't ask for any... reinforcements, yet..._

"I assume you have good news for me," he snapped, icily, glaring at the Bokoblin messenger who had just materialised.  
The creature forced human words out of its mouth. "Master. We have had... difficulties."  
"Difficulties?" Ganondorf yelled. "The Hero was destroyed, correct?"  
"We had... assumed so. He is not so simple to fight as we had thought," it replied.  
"How could he have been a difficult target? He has never touched a sword in his life!"  
"But your... ancient captor... has." 

Ganon froze, unable to say the name. He knew that Oni'kara had returned, but as yet, he had assumed that the Fierce Deity would be letting destiny take its course.  
Now, it seemed, things were otherwise. There was only one possible ray of hope that he could see.  
"Was it my... adversary? Really? Or just the boy playing with powers he doesn't understand?"  
"Master. You are correct."  
Ganon half-smiled, before realising what it meant on another level. Oni'kara might not be a threat, but if his troops could not handle an inexperienced fighter... "He still _defeated_ you? You had him _outnumbered_!"  
"Master! You don't understand!" The creature backed away slowly.  
Ganondorf's eyes narrowed. "On the contrary, I understand perfectly well. You delayed too long - you gave him a chance to use..." He paused. "To think I put up with your kind so long." Maybe it was the scientist's mind that he had taken over, but alien thoughts ran in Ganon's own. _To think I was once such a monster. Slow. Unintelligent.  
I have spent too long making the same mistakes._

He raised a hand, green energy coalescing in its palm. "There is no reward for failure." 

- 

A dishevelled Link stared at the computer monitor. There had been survivors - gabbling madly about the monsters they had seen. Even an armoured warrior came as a relief after that.   
As he watched, the 'personal message' icon flashed onscreen. Heart racing, Link seized on the mouse. _That'd better be you..._

_hiya_  
Hey!  
_where have you been, L.? you were the one who wanted to talk!_  
LOL, Garry.  
_what's up?  
and why the sudden mythology obsession?_  
Quite a lot, actually...  
And that's cause I think I'm in the middle of it.  
_hope you're happy, man. I checked one of my books. I don't know how you knew about that, but...  
you got the spelling wrong, lol. Oni'kara was the ancient Hylian god of time and destiny, usually shown as a young man in armour with a painted face. very long legend attached, but you can look that one up yourself!_

Link swallowed, and looked in the mirror. He reached up and touched his face, running his fingers along the marks below his eyes. _That's... what does that mean?  
Are you telling me I'm this..._

BRB... 

He began to look around the desk, hoping wildly that Lynna's brother had left some sort of camera handy. No such luck, he soon found out. There was only one thing to do. Try to explain. _Yeah, and sound like a nutter in the process..._

Okay, sorted. I don't want to sound weird, but...  
_yeah?_  
That's me.  
w_hat do you mean?_  
Just that. I'd send you a picture if I had a camera.  
_L. , you've lost it...  
_Well, my home was *trashed* yesterday, I think I'd be allowed to 'lose it'! (Has it been on the news?) But I'm not kidding around!  
Say I sound crazy if you like, but there is some *crazy* stuff happening in my life. Yesterday, I got turned into just what you said there, and I dreamt I met a guy calling himself Oni'kara last night. I didn't even know the name before - you saw I couldn't spell it! But now... 

Garry was silent at the other end of the conversation for a while. Link thought he might have said the wrong thing. Something else struck him, though. 

And you were the one who once told me that my name was out of mythology. I think it's happening again.  
History's repeating.  
Take what I said earlier as a big joke if you want (it's not) but I'm in the same situation as the other Links.  
_you remembered that?  
_Hard to forget.  
_I... I don't know what to say  
but... I believe you_  
_and even if I didn't, I'd stick by you here_ :) 

Link sighed._  
_Thanks. That makes all the difference. Just knowing that.  
Bye...  
_see ya, man..._

His heart began to pound._ Oh, man. Oh man, oh man, oh man.  
This can't mean what it sounds like, can it?  
That's... I was getting used to the whole Hero bit, but now..._

He looked into the mirror again, then down into his hands and at his body. Link whispered to himself. "I'm a _god?_" 

It took some time for him to calm down. _No, _he thought. _It's impossible. It was the... that other person, my visitor, who called himself that.  
Yeah - but I'm the one who currently fits the description. Not that blond biker.  
Is he real? Or, last night, was that just my subconscious putting a face to the information it was giving me?  
Ohh..._

He toppled back onto the bed, holding his head in his hands. Even though it was still light outside, he wanted to sleep. 

_The dream is the same; the location is the same. But this time, Link's not so confused. He walks up to Oni'kara, who is stretching out with his back to a toppled column. "Okay," he asks. "I know who you are. What you are." Somehow, in this world, the knowledge that he is confronting one of the gods means nothing - and Link's still not sure whether his visitor is the real thing or not. He doesn't look like one here. "And I know what's happened to me."  
"That's good."  
"Is that all you can say?"  
"What do you expect me to say?" Link paused. "Look. It's... it's okay. I can handle it." He sighs. "I'll cope."  
Oni blinks. "Cope with what?"  
"This. What I've become. Or I'll try, anyway. If I've got to be a, be a..."  
Sighing, Oni turns aside. He's worked out what Link's thinking. "It's not as simple as that. It's only temporary, Link. You're borrowing my powers to fight."  
Link closes his eyes for a moment. He believes and understands what he's hearing. It comes as a relief and a disappointment at the same time. "Okay. I think I get you. But... what do you mean, temporary?"_

_The real Fierce Deity walks over, and puts a hand on Link's shoulder. "Just think about it. When did all this start?"  
"That's an easy one. Put that mask you gave me on. Five seconds later, I'm hitting my head on doorframes and scaring the hell out of my girlfriend." He laughs.  
"What do you think happened to it?"  
Link shrugs. "I don't know, do I?"  
"Haven't you considered that it might still be there?"  
"What do you mean? I've checked. Poked and prodded until I was red in the - ha - face. There's nothing there."  
"You're looking in the wrong place," Oni'kara remarks. "The answer - it's inside you. It's a case of knowing what's going on." He reaches forwards and runs his fingers under Link's jawline. Link starts back in shock.  
"What're you doing?"  
"I can feel it there. Concentrate, Link. And remember who you are." He nods, and turns away._

As Link awoke, the knowledge he had gained was fresh in his mind. He sat up and raised his hands to his face. _Okay. You know what you're doing, now. Just... just remember... just think about it...  
_Another voice joined him in his mind. _Yeah? Says who?  
You're going to give up a chance like this?  
But he said...  
And he also said you're the one with the power here. Don't waste it._

__- 

"What are you saying, Link? You can go back to your old self?" Zelda asked, peering in on her brother the next morning. He was gazing out of the window. As he turned towards her, his eyes looked different. The light that filled them seemed more intense than it had before.  
"Yeah. That's what he's telling me. All I need to do is concentrate." Link paused, and turned his back.  
"So what's the problem?" his sister asked, concerned.  
He shot Zelda a burning look over his shoulder. "I'm not going to." 

-- 

A/N: A little request. If I screw up on any Wind Waker references, someone tell me, okay? While you lucky people are playing it, I'm still waiting... Thank you!   
Heh, while I'm waiting, maybe reading a review or two might do to cheer me up... extremely large hint here, people. (I know. I know. Have I no shame? And yes, I know that line wasn't original...) It means a lot to me to know there are people reading, so thank you in advance for taking the time to write one. Even a flame.  
Okay - after this point, I'll shut up on that topic... sorry to be a bore. 


	11. Breaking the Habit

**Generations**

-- 

**_Chapter 10: Breaking the Habit_**

-- 

"You're what?" Zelda yelled. "What are you talking about, you're not going back?"  
"Just what I said. Why should I?" Zelda's mouth opened and closed randomly as her brother pressed on. "I've been thinking about it. I'm supposed to be fighting for Hyrule, right? The world's getting dangerous... I'm going to need all the help I can get. What have I got if I go back to how I was? Hell, I couldn't defend myself like that. You saw me get sliced up by - you know - Dark Link. If I'd have had this power then... this was given me by a _god_, Zelda! And you say I'm not supposed to use it?   
"It's controlling _you_, Link! You're going power mad!"  
"Maybe I am. Or maybe I'm just being practical." He nodded. "I'll see you tonight. Far as anyone's concerned, Link Hunter's sick." He gave her a half-nod and leapt through the window, landing lightly on his feet outside. 

Zelda shook her head. What's wrong with you? _You've changed, even if you can't see it... my brother would never have done that... You don't even seem to know who you are any more..._  
She sat back down on the bed and rested her head in her hands for a moment. _Don't let this happen to you..._

- 

A figure moved quickly and quietly through Kakariko's back alleyways. He knew the way, now. No-one would trouble him back here. And if they did...  
Link pulled out his sword, ready, and flicked it around hand-to-hand. He wasn't planning on hurting them. Just - giving them a little scare. Human opponents weren't his concern.   
The hunter was on the lookout for bigger prey. 

Eventually, he made his way through to the ruined district. A crane was visible down one of the clearer side streets, just starting to begin the clean-up of the wreckage. They wouldn't be able to see him from there, though, Link thought. 

Despite that, he still felt like he was being watched. He looked around. No-one was visible. Which, in his mind, left one option. 

_Who are you? _Link thought._ Come on. Just tell me. I know you're hearing this._

_You know already,_ the answer came, eventually. Link reeled slightly at the feel of another mind touching his own, but this time, he knew what to expect. _Oni'kara._

_And that means what, exactly?_

_Do you really want to know?_

_Yes._

When the reply came, it was deceptively quietly. Soft tones, but soft like the sound of a sword being unsheathed. Low, like the thunder in the storm. _I am the Fierce Deity. I hold the power of time itself. I am the eternal warrior - I could fight any evil the worlds I guard throw my way. But for that, I pay the ultimate price - that I must fight those battles when their time draws near. I use the forces of darkness and chaos, but I serve only the light. I belong to no world, yet I live in all, their creator once and their protector forever. No longer do I call myself the hero, yet neither am I the villain. I just am..._

_Fancy talking. And you come round to screw with my life? Why?_

The bike skidded to a halt in front of him, throwing up clouds of dust. Its rider pushed his helmet up out of his eyes. "It's a shame it had to come to this," he remarked.  
"Come to what?" Link asked in reply.   
"This." Oni'kara leapt off the motorcycle and walked across. "I'd hoped our first real meeting would have been in better circumstances."  
Link lifted a wry eyebrow. "What do you mean? We've met before. As I remember it, this was a little present of yours," he remarked, waving a hand towards his face.   
"This is different. You know who I am now," Oni remarked.  
"Is that supposed to be a threat?" Link responded, cockily, smiling thinly. "To someone who's using your power?"  
"No. A request." He paused. "Link, go back to how you were."  
Link snorted. "Yeah, right. I had a feeling it was going to come to that at some point. Why?"  
"You are one of the Heroes of Hyrule," Oni started, approaching. "But there is nothing heroic in hanging onto power for its own sake." He sighed. "Listen to me, Link. You can stop this. You have to stop it."  
"And why do I have to 'stop it?' You told me yourself. I'm a warrior. A Hero." Link walked up to Oni'kara, arms folded. "And as I am, I've got the advantage here. Whoever my enemy is - I can stop them like this."  
"You don't even know _who_ your enemy is!" _Neither of us do..._  
"I intend to find out." Link drew his sword. The motion had become so natural it was hard for him to imagine not having it there.  
"How is that going to solve anything?" Oni asked, flatly. "Who are you going to attack?"  
"Anyone who stands in my way." The voice was Link's - but the tone was far from it. Oni'kara recognised it as one he'd used when he'd let anger cloud his judgement - the powers he was using were affecting Link's mood. Hostility radiated from the young hero's mind.  
_Stop this! _Oni yelled telepathically.   
Link paused for a second. _I've already given you my answer_.  
_Then you leave me no choice._

His eyes flaring into their natural state, Oni'kara pulled the Sword of Eternity into existence, and stepped forwards ready to fight. _So be it_. 

Link lashed out first with a shout. Oni almost found himself off guard, but easily blocked his young counterpart's blade. He lunged forwards, his own attacks almost scattering sparks where they smashed into Link's armour. Link staggered backwards for a moment, but quickly recovered his momentum and dodged behind Oni'kara's back. He lashed out forwards, but his opponent wasn't there to be attacked.   
There was a brief gust of wind to his side. _Thank you, Farore... _Oni thought, and attacked again. Link was caught off guard. With a swift kick from Oni, he was brought to his knees. 

He glanced down to see the point of Oni's sword barely a millimetre from his neck. "It's not the power you hold, Link. It's how you use it."  
"No!" Link gasped. "I'm still not going to... ah!" he yelled. Oni stepped back in shock. 

White and black energy seemed to flicker over Link's body. For a second, underneath it, Oni could see the form of a normal teenaged boy. The moment passed quickly, however, and it was an armoured warrior of his own standard who knelt there. _What does that mean?_

Quickly, he worked it out. "Link!" he snapped out, grabbing his shoulders. "Your body can't take that power! Stop trying to hang onto it!"  
"What do you mean? I coped alright so far..."  
"Listen to me! You were never meant to be in that form so long! You've been using that power for three days - it was never intended for any more than a brief battle!" _Not for a mortal, anyway... _"You're getting _overloaded_!" 

Link took a deep breath, slowly recovering from the earlier shock to his senses. "What are you saying?" he asked.  
"It's dangerous for you to keep on going. This isn't me trying to give you orders. This is what your own body is saying."  
"Thank you, but I think I know what my body's telling me..." 

Oni sighed. "I don't have a choice, then." _I'm sorry. _With a swift movement, he put a hand to Link's face. Link yelled out in shock at first, but that was soon overtaken by the pain flooding his system as his body returned to its natural state.   
He passed out briefly. 

- 

Slowly, Link came round. Immediately, he knew things were wrong. His body felt dull and heavy, empty of the energy that had run through his veins. As he opened his eyes, the world around him looked just as lifeless. 

One thought ran in his mind. 

_I've blown it._

He sat up slowly, holding a hand to his head and coughing. Looking around, he caught sight of Oni crouching by his side - and a mask lying discarded on the ground. _So much for that idea..._

"Are you alright?" Oni'kara asked quietly.  
Link glared back. "Do I look alright to you?"  
"I'd guess that's a rhetorical question. You look fine."  
"Funny. Because, you know, I don't _feel_ it..." Link spat back. 

Oni sighed. "I guessed not."  
"Well. Are you happy now?" Link snapped in reply. "Everything's back to normal... all just fine and dandy. Just how you wanted it." Although the power had gone, its effects lingered in Link's veins like a drug. An uncontrolled anger was only part of it.  
"It was for your own sake," Oni said softly.   
Link paused before he next spoke. "Maybe it was..." he said. "But it still didn't give you the right to mess with my life!"  
"I was just trying to help you..." 

"I don't need your help! Did you ever go and say 'hi' to any of the other Heroes? Or did you just screw with their heads, too? God of destiny, was it? But you just leave us poor mortals to do your dirty work!" Link yelled, angrily. "Why stop now? Why chase _me_ down? Was it because I wasn't quite falling into line with your plan?"  
"Doing my 'dirty work'? Oni replied in shock. He took a deep breath. "Do you even know who I was? I was the first of the Heroes. I know what you're going through."  
Link paused. "You were the... huh?" he started. "You mean, you were just human once?" Oni'kara nodded, trying to bridge a gap. Link wasn't in the mood to listen, however. "Then why did you leave the rest of the... my ancestors, or whatever... get themselves nearly _killed_?" 

The question stung. "It wasn't my place to interfere in their destiny," Oni replied quietly. "Only to see that it played out."  
"What a load of crap!" Link fumed. "And if destiny had said they died? What would you have done _then_?" Oni'kara had no reply. Link began to walk away, but was held up by a yell. 

"Wait!"  
Link stopped and turned around. "Yeah? What?" 

"You're right," Oni said, in soft and tired tones. "I didn't do anything. _And it hurt every time_. Every time I've been forced to let history play out alone, when I could have helped. Every life lost because of my inaction... or even my actions." He paused for a second. "How long do you think it would take to sink a continent? I'll tell you. One month. Millions upon millions died - the records of an entire civilization were lost. And it was my fault. My own actions had forced history onto that path. After that point, I could only let it play out. How do you think that _felt_? Watching my home _die_? Just _watching_?" By the end of his speech, his voice raised again, but not for long.  
Link stared in disbelief. "Whoa... What do you mean - 'you couldn't interfere'? You're a god! You can do anything!" 

Oni sighed, cupping his hands to his face. "It's not like that. I exist to protect the course of history. I'm not immune to fate. Neither are my sisters, or this world's other guardians. We created this world, even before my current life started. Yet we are still bound by its rules.  
"You say I never did anything for the other Heroes? No. I didn't. I _couldn't_. Our fates never crossed. And every Link in the chain, who fought his battles alone - I could only stand back, or risk making things worse. It was like... like abandoning a brother." 

He stopped, and walked up to Link. "But I can help you. Just listen to me. I won't let you cope alone."  
Link turned his back and folded his arms. "Don't bother. Just - let me go. If _they_ didn't need your help, and _you_ got through on your own - I don't think I do, either." Not listening to Oni's yells, he walked away. 

- 

That night, he slept easily for the first time in three days. Not having to put up with the bulk of armour around him, or a bed two feet too small, Link was able to relax. Although it was still the ceiling of Alex Bowman's room he saw above him when he opened his eyes, he had finally heard from his mother - she was safe, Zelda had informed him, and just as concerned about him. They would be meeting again the next day. Still no word from his father, but Link was almost used to that. Probably hadn't even noticed the shockwave from up there, he thought.  
A smile on his face, he drifted off. 

_The ruined temple stretches around him. This was the last place he wanted to be. And even worse, he's not alone here._

_"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" he yells, gesturing wildly. "You're not even letting me have time to myself when I'm asleep! Just... let me go! How many times do I have to say I'm not interested?"  
Oni sighs. "Fine," he says quietly. "I'll make you a deal. Let me teach you for just a month. Say - I'll meet you after school, every day, just for an hour or so. In that time, I'll give you a hero's combat training. I'll teach you the legends that surround us, too. If after that time, you still can't put up with me - I'll let you go freely. I'll never contact you again unless you call out to me. You have my word."_

_Link pauses for a moment. He doesn't know whether he likes the sound of this proposal or not. But it seems he has little choice. Eventually, he gives a wry smile. "I can't make it on Mondays," he remarks, and slowly holds out his hand. "Fine. One month. And then..."  
Oni grasps Link's extended hand and gives it a shake. "And then, we see what happens."_

-- 

A/N: Eep. I've started using Linkin Park titles again. Well, the song is kinda on the fic's soundtrack. 

Okay, brief intermission over with. Chapter 10 is over, and for the first time in the series there's no sign of an epilogue yet. (No groaning at the back.) This is on course to beat its prequel easily! Assuming I can get my butt off WW / MQ long enough to _write_... and onto the computer when that time comes. 

At this point, I think you all deserve a well-earned thanks for putting up with me... There's a personal message for anyone who's reviewed, over in the reviews section. 


	12. Brave New World

**Generations**

-- 

**_Chapter 11: Brave New World_**

-- 

The early winter air was crisp and clean. More to the point, Link thought, sitting on the park bench, it was cold. He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and tried to pay attention to what he was being told.  
_I don't think this is quite the sort of extra-curricular course they'd approve of back at school..._

"The key to any sort of fight, with or without a weapon, is... Link? _Link_! Are you even listening to me?"  
"Yeah, yeah. I'm listening," Link responded, though the tone of his voice was trying to tell a different story. He had decided a long time ago that he'd preferred being an atheist to being on one-to-one terms with a god of destiny. Even though, after their first meeting, Oni had never even mentioned the fact, Link was still acutely aware of who or what he was talking to.  
"You don't seem like it."  
"Well, as if that wasn't easy to work out! I've just had an absolutely awful day. I missed the bus. I have a truckload of homework. Cal's been an even bigger loser than normal - he's been looking sick, really weird colour, so I get on the receiving end." Link sighed, and put his head in his hands. "The last thing I really needed was hero lessons."  
"I'm only looking out for you..." Oni replied, in a voice both soft and steel-edged. "Times are going to be hard, you know that..."  
"Yeah! And I am _sick_ of hearing it!" Link snapped. "You think that - oh, I might not want a chance to _relax_ now and then?"   
He got to his feet. "_Some_ of us are only _human_, you know." With that, Link slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked off. 

It had been just over two weeks since the disaster that had ruined his home. Somehow, Link was managing to cope better than he thought he would have. His grandmother had taken the rest of the family in for the time being, though her over-concern for them often proved itself a problem. Life was almost getting back to normal in Kakariko - if its residents avoided the great scar, healing only slowly and running through the north of the city, it was nearly possible to pretend nothing had happened. The 'danger zone', they called it. The only people to approach it any more were armed police. Civilians had gone in there and not yet returned. The rumours why ranged from plausible to fantastic. If they had known the truth they could hardly have accepted it. 

A currently unconcerned Link spared one glance for the darkening sky as he walked. An icy wind blew, cutting through his jacket, and carrying on it a few faint specks of white.   
_Huh? _he thought. _A bit early for snow, isn't it? But hell. Weird, but not the sort of weird aimed at me, I guess. So that's okay._ He quickly closed down on what his imagination was starting to throw at him. _Damn, I'm turning into a pessimist.  
All your fault, Oni'kara._

The snowfall quickly became heavier. Link turned up his collar and started to run. _This wasn't on the forecasts..._   


It didn't take long before he was home, or where he now considered to be home. He hammered impatiently on the door as he waited for someone to open it. It didn't take long. "Link? You look a bit chilled..." his grandmother remarked. "Come on in, love."  
He laughed weakly, looking down into her smiling eyes. "You don't have to fuss over me, gran."  
"Oh, yes, I do, love." As Link stepped inside, another thought struck her. "I hope that biker friend of yours hasn't been causing trouble..." She paused. "What is it you two are always doing, anyway?"  
"He's sort of a tutor. And trust me - 'Kay' doesn't cause anyone any trouble except me." He stepped inside and hung his jacket by the door._ And he's not a friend, either. Just a random immortal nuisance_. "Where's Zel'? And where's mum?"  
"Your mother just went to the store, and your sister's busy. I asked her to sort through some of the junk in the attic. I think with you two around, we'll need the space. I don't suppose you'd mind..."  
Link rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll do it." _Then do my homework. Then do my 'other homework'_. _I might try to eat and sleep some time tonight, but I can't really see how I'm going to fit that into my schedule._ With a last glance at his grandmother, he ran up the stairs. 

- 

In the centre of the snowstorm, a figure in black walked, unconcerned by the freak weather. It seemed almost homelike to him. He looked around, watching the goings-on of the city.  
As he watched, a young man hurried out of a nearby burger bar, warming his hands on a polystyrene cup of coffee. Something in his eyes suggested life was rough at the moment. The man in black approached slowly. "Are you having problems?" he asked.  
"Yeah - and random people in the street is one of them. I'm kinda busy..." the boy remarked in return, walking off.  
His new companion kept pace easily. "What if I said I could get rid of those problems for you? Turn your life around completely?"   
"Then I'd say you're crazy. What are you? Recruiting for the military, or something like that? That looks like an uniform of some sort..." The boy paused. "Or - is it religion? I already go to the temple every week... I'm not interested. " 

"Not quite either of those," Ganondorf remarked with a thin smile. "Five seconds of your time. I won't hurt you. You have my word." Inside, he laughed.  
"Whatever, Mr. - "  
He paused before replying. "Mr. Hunter, if you will. For now," he added in an undertone.  
The name didn't immediately ring any bells. "Okay. I'm Alex." He shrugged. "Fine. Five seconds. So - what's going on?"  
"You'll find out soon enough." _You are so trusting, boy... But you will be putting your faith in the only thing that deserves it, soon. The darkness_. 

- 

Link coughed as he climbed up the ladder a little shakily. "You in here?" he yelled.  
"Hiya!" Zelda's voice replied from the distance, behind a pile of assorted boxes. "Gran sent you?"  
"Yeah..." Link sighed. "So. Find anything interesting?" He walked closer, ducking the rafters.  
"Nah," Zelda said with a shrug. "But I'm not half-way done yet." She paused. "So. How was hero school?"  
Her brother rolled his eyes. Only Zelda and his closest friends knew exactly what went on in those after school sessions. "As dull as the normal variety," he groaned. "We keep going over the same stuff. He doesn't know whether to patronise me or over-stretch me. One moment, he's just about telling me that you don't pick up a sword by the pointy end, and the next thing he's waving his round my head like..."  
"I doubt he's had much experience training people, somehow."  
"Bleh. You always stick up for him." Link changed the subject. "Come on. Sooner we get this done, the sooner we get out of here."  
"'We'? I've been doing all the work here..." Zelda said, laughing.  
"Blame the big guy," Link responded dryly, lifting down a cardboard box from the top of a pile. Looking inside, it contained a collection of old picto albums. Despite his mood, Link soon found himself laughing at some of the old pictures. 

Soon, there was only one box left untouched in the attic. An old wooden chest sat at the far back. Although it had at one time been padlocked, the lock had broken off. As Link lifted the lid, a cloud of dust flew up. He screwed up his eyes for a moment before looking inside.  
For a moment, he looked in silence.   
"Hey..." he finally whispered.  
"Hey what?" Zelda asked, walking over. Link's only response was to reach down into the old chest and pick out what lay in the bottom. 

"Hey, this," he said with a wide smile, holding up the sword. It wasn't anything special to look at. After the great weapon he had used in the recent past, it seemed small and fragile. The handle was smooth, polished wood, engraved with a simple triangular pattern, and the blade short but sharp. Link wasn't willing to test just how sharp, however. "Wonder if Gran knew this was knocking about up here..."  
"She must have," Zelda remarked. "Link - you're not thinking of keeping it, are you?"  
He paused, and closed his eyes. "Yeah. I am. Please - " he held out his free hand - "don't tell anyone."  
"Okay," Zelda sighed. "But they're going to find it some time."  
"No-one did so far," Link said with a shrug. "Probably only one person's gonna be interested." He closed his eyes. _Hell, he'll find out some time. Probably going to read my mind - why can't he just get out of there? But how I'm going to get a sword to the park without attracting too much attention... no idea._ Link reached into the bottom of the chest again to put the sword back into its scabbard. As he left the attic, it was thrown a little carelessly into his room, where it skidded across the floor and under his bed. 

As they wandered downstairs, Link and Zelda easily caught the sound of raised voices over the phone. Standing in the hallway, they listened.   
"What do you mean, you can't get in touch?"  
_"Just that. Sorry, Mrs. Hunter."  
_"Look. I think I have a right to know what my husband is doing..."  
_"We see him around, but there's no talking to him. His door's always locked, and the whole corridor's blocked off. There's dangerous stuff going on. Frankly, no-one wants to ask what he's up to."_ The voice on the other end of the line paused. _"To be honest, you're lucky. You know how many people have disappeared recently?  
_"Oh, yes. I've seen it on the news..."  
_"At least we know he's alive and well. Even if he's not quite ...being himself."_

Zelda looked at her brother. "What's that mean? Dad's in trouble?" she asked.   
Link only shrugged. 

- 

The next day seemed even colder than the one before. _Well, maybe no-one else'll be crazy enough to be hanging round the park_, Link thought, fiddling with his locker door. No-one had noticed the object wrapped in plastic bags that he had hidden inside. If they had, he'd have been in trouble, there was no doubt about it. He shoved the sword into his backpack. The hilt and some of the blade stuck out the top but were unrecognisable.   
Link tried to remain calm as he walked out of the school gates and headed for the park and his usual rendezvous. As he'd expected, Oni was already waiting for him, unconcerned by the cold weather. For once, he was glad to see him there. "Hey," he remarked with a brief wave.  
Oni got to his feet and walked over. "Hello to you, too," he said with a faint smile of relief. "What was wrong yesterday?"   
Link sighed and threw his hands up. "I told you then. I just... really didn't have time to sit and listen. Sorry I ran out. But..."  
"As long as you don't plan on a repeat performance today. You've got to take this a little more seriously than you have before." Link's only reply to that was a roll of his eyes. This time, however, he tried to listen to what he was being told - for a while, at least. His attention began drifting down towards the sword lying on the floor. _Okay, so when should I say about that, then?_

"About what?"  
Link snapped round. "Stop reading my mind!" he said, bitterly. "Can't a guy keep his head to himself?"  
"I wasn't 'reading your mind'. You were sending those thoughts to me, even if you didn't realise it. I couldn't help but hear them." Oni looked across at Link. "So. What is it you want to tell me, then?"  
Link shuffled his feet. "Look in my bag. I found that yesterday." He gave a snort of laughter. "Not quite _your_ standard, but just wanted you to see." 

Oni unwrapped the plastic bags, and gave Link's sword a test swing. Its weight felt comfortably familiar in his hand, though he was sure he had never seen that particular sword before. "Not bad - not bad," he remarked. "Who gave you this? It's a great responsibility, you know..."  
"I wasn't 'given it'. I found it. You think it's okay?" Link said with a shrug.  
"Certainly. But our lessons are going to have to become a bit tougher than what you've been used to. It's more dangerous to have a weapon you don't know how to use, than to know how to use one and not have it..."  
"Stick the pointy end into your opponent, right?" Link remarked. "Oni - I'm _kidding_..."  
"It's no laughing matter." Oni reached for his own sword, causing Link to shuffle along the bench away from where he stood. "Why so nervous now? You were all too keen to take me on before..."  
"Yeah, but... you know..." Link waved a hand towards his face. "I was kinda... on a power rush. _You_ know." He was conscious of his face feeling rather warmer than the rest of his body.  
"Just consider this a practical lesson." Oni raised his sword. "The first step - defence. Always remember to keep your guard up... you don't have a shield, so this is going to be harder on you..." 

Within half an hour, Link was out of breath. Though he hadn't sustained any injuries, he knew that was only because Oni had been going easy on him. He remembered their fight in the danger zone too well. It was only a shame he couldn't remember the moves he'd pulled off then. Hands on his knees, he tried to recover.  
"Okay..." he panted out. "I get... the picture." As he straightened up, he could see a movement across the park. It didn't seem to be anything, but the fact that Oni's eyes were fixed into the distance indicated otherwise. The immortal had a hand held to his head. "What's up?" Link asked.  
"There's something over there. Between those buildings - can you see it? Get that sword out. I think we might need it." Oni started to walk off, his senses screaming. Another rift between worlds. But this time, he intended to catch it for himself. Link followed closely as they left the park, more than a little worried. 

It wasn't long before they realised what the movement had been.  
Two pig-like monsters were moving through the alleys.  
"Great," Oni muttered. "Moblins."  
"Huh?" Link remarked in surprise. "What's a..."  
"Never mind. Just remember what I told you. Keep your guard up." Oni paused. "Let's go." 

_Like I need telling, _Link thought. _Let's see if I can sneak up to them..._ An energy blast rocketed past his head, smashing one of the Moblins in the chest. It fell to the floor. _Or alternatively, thank you, we can just go in with a full frontal attack. Subtlety's not your strong point, is it?_

With that, the monsters attacked. One made the bad move of heading straight for Oni; the second made a run for Link, who jumped out of the way quickly. The Moblin gave chase - slowly but still determined. Dodging wildly, Link tried to get in a few blows, but the pike it carried provided a crude defence. Link found himself forced backwards against his will. Out of the corner of his eye, he could just see Oni taking care of his opponent easily.   
At that point, however, he had more to worry about. The air around him seemed to be filled with a heat haze. Light flickered. 

As Oni looked across, ready to face the second monster, he saw Link vanish from view. In a split second, he realised what had happened. "Link! No!" he yelled, starting forwards - but the rift had already sealed. _Damn_. His head rang. _At least I know where he is. I might be able to track him. But of all worlds - why that one?... _

- 

"Whoa!" Link yelled, as the world began to spin. He stumbled, the ground shifting under his feet. "What the heck is going on?" Around him, the scenery warped and stretched, flickering in and out of existence. Sound, too, was distorted - the noise of the city groaned up and down the scale before fading away. A rock placing itself under his foot, Link tripped, falling onto his hands and knees with a yelp. Unable to move for a moment, he could do nothing but watch the uncontrollable vista around him. 

As suddenly as it had begun, the madness stopped. Link dragged himself to his feet and looked around.  
_Where am I?_ he thought. Wherever he now was looked vaguely like a city, but one of ancient times. Many of the buildings looked in worse condition than those hit by the attacks on Kakariko. _This place is a mess_.  
Shaken, he began to walk on, tightening his grip on his sword. This strange city had a bad air to it. He could almost feel that even its quieter areas were still what he could call rough. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see figures in alleys and behind windows. None of them was what he would call human. They seemed to be watching him with a mixture of fear, respect and anger. 

_I have to get out of here_, he thought, and picked up his pace. The streets seemed almost familiar. With a sickening twist in his stomach, Link knew why. The layout was just about identical to the city he knew. This was Kakariko - but at the same time, it most definitely was not. Merely a reflection or a copy. 

For a brief moment, Link glanced up at the sky. It was covered with dense clouds, but as he watched, a break formed in the grey blanket. The colour was - wrong. Not blue, but a fiery gold. It rang the faintest of bells in his memory. There was no time to think about that problem, however, as a pair of what looked a little like dragons ran out at him from the shadows. One of them swore at Link, before grabbing him by the shoulders and smacking him in the face. He had no chance to respond, and could hear one last, guttural phrase as he passed out.  
"Ya think we should take this one to the master? Been bringing all these light-worlders through here..."  
"Nah. He's only after..." 

- 

Slowly, Link awoke, with his head pounding and a taste of blood in his mouth. This looked nothing like his previous location. His attackers seemed to have dumped him somewhere in the countryside, such as it was. It took him some time before he could even sit up straight. _Friendly, those two_, he mused, gingerly touching his lip and running his tongue over his teeth. _Do they say 'hello' to everyone the same way? Mugged by monsters... fun all the way..._

As he looked around, he guessed that they must have just left him here for dead. There were no buildings nearby; only a cluster of trees that looked almost like they had faces, and a murky green lake. _This place looks like one helluva tourist spot_, he thought. _Charming locals, spectacular scenery... Just come to beautiful - where is this, anyway?_ Absently, he rubbed at an itch on the back of his left hand as he looked at the sky. The clouds were clearing slightly, revealing more of the strange, unnatural colour between them. It almost sounded like something out of an old nursery rhyme. 

_Well, I know one thing, _Link decided as he got to his feet, picking up his backpack from where it was discarded on the ground by his side. He was surprised that they hadn't taken his sword. _This isn't my world any more._  
The dragon-man's words came back to him as he began to check through his pockets. All his money seemed to be gone, but that seemed to become unimportant. He stopped and swore as he worked out what the phrase must have meant.  
"Damn..." Link whispered to himself. "I should have paid more attention to what Oni was saying..." _He tried to tell me all these legends in my first lesson. Didn't listen.   
But why would I? I mean, I'd never thought I'd end up in the... the Dark World?..._

-- 


	13. Shadows from the Past

**Generations**

-- 

**_Chapter 12:_** **_Shadows from the Past_**  
(Warning: possible Wind Waker spoilers) 

-- 

The door was almost knocked off its hinges from Oni's pounding. It wasn't going to be easy to tell Link's family what had happened. Fortunately for him, in the end, it was Zelda who opened the door. On first seeing her unexpected guest, her first impulse was a smile of surprise. "I wasn't expecting to see you around here..." she said, laughing. "What is it this time? And Link did go to meet you, didn't he?"  
Oni paused before replying. "That's what I've got to talk to you about."  
Zelda's face fell. She closed her eyes, fearing the worst. She could tell from his tone of voice that this wasn't going to be good news. "Go - go on, then. He's not - he's not hurt, is he?"  
"Not as far as I know. But he is in danger." Quickly, he recapped the events leading up to Link's disappearance. He didn't need to be able to read minds to see the fear running through that of the Hero's sister. 

White faced, Zelda turned away. Calming down slowly, she beckoned Oni inside. "Look. Why couldn't you just go after Link, then? He told me... you're supposed to be able to jump between parallel worlds, or something. And from what you said, it sounds like he was sucked into one. Am I right?"  
Oni nodded slowly. "You are."  
"Then why couldn't you help him? You said you'd be there! And you just let him vanish! Please. Just tell me why..." 

There was a sigh before he replied. "I could have followed your brother just about anywhere through time and space - but there is a world that I can never visit. Once, it was known as the Sacred Realm. But for two thousand years, it has been the Dark World. An intended prison for the most evil entity to ever exist." For a moment, Oni's eyes slipped shut. There was an anguished expression on his face. Zelda was quick to pick it up.   
"'Intended'. He got out, then," she stated flatly.  
"Yes. He's escaped too often. Either physically or in spirit form."   
Zelda could see it would not be a good idea to push that line of questioning any further. "Okay. So, Link's stuck in this - prison world? And you can't go in there - why? You don't want to let this evil whoever out again?"  
"I had believed him to be dead these past eight hundred years. But - death's never stopped him before..." Oni paused for a second. He didn't like where his thoughts were taking him. But at the same time, it was the only logical conclusion. _Why was I so blind as not to realise it before..._  
_Have you escaped yet, dark king? Or are you still just trying to find your way out?_

- 

Link's tentative exploration of his new surroundings was having little success. There seemed to be no real roads as such, no houses anywhere - no signs of anything he could call civilization. Wherever he had been dropped was far beyond the city limits. For the past couple of hours, he had been following a rough dirt trail - though to where, he had no clue. By this world's standards, it looked like a major highway. He had seen signposts pointing down it, but the writing on them was of a strange rectangular style that he could not decipher.   
_Well, I'm going somewhere at least. Here's hoping I'm going in the right direction, if there is such a thing any more, _he thought. _But how did I get so far from the city, anyway? Can those things drive?_  
Link paused. Not only had he not seen any signs of civilization, he had seen nothing that he would be willing to call technology. It was eerily quiet, with only the sounds of the wind in the trees and of his own footsteps to disturb him. In some ways, it was almost relaxing - but letting his guard down would probably be a very bad idea, Link mused. He had seen a number of strange creatures in the distance, though none had yet bothered him. He didn't want that state of affairs to change any time soon. 

A strange noise disturbed Link's thoughts. In his current frame of mind it took him a little time to realise that it was actually his stomach. He checked his watch. _Seven thirty already? Aw, nuts... Well, what's the chance that five minutes break is going to hurt? _he thought. _Think I must have something in here somewhere._ Sitting down by the side of the path, he began to check through the contents of his backpack. The search only managed to reveal a packet of potato chips and a half-drunk bottle of lemonade. At least it was better than nothing. 

Temporarily distracted, Link didn't notice the squeaking sounds in the long grass around him. A group of imp-like creatures leapt out at him before he realised what was happening. "Hey!" he yelled. "Get _off_ me, you little - hang on, put that down! That's _mine_!" Link managed to smack one of the Miniblin pack over the head with his scabbard as the little creature tried to escape with his sword. Retrieving his weapon from the stunned imp, he wildly attacked the rest. They exploded in a puff of indigo smoke as he hit them. 

Soon, his attackers were gone. His heart racing, Link picked up his drinks bottle and took a long gulp. _I keep this up, I'm going to get fit in no time. Hell, it always looks so easy in video games..._

Slowly, he became aware that someone was watching him. 

"Are you trying to tell me that those little things scared you?" a familiar voice asked. "Hunter, you are just such a wimp..." 

- 

Link span round on the defensive. The last time he had heard that voice was only that morning in school - and he had no interest in hearing it again now. _Of all the unwelcome visitors... _"I was not scared. There's a bigger monster than those little creeps here." He paused. "But, anyway. What are you doing here?"  
"Watching you panic like a little girl," Cal said, grinning. "Especially when the bit where that one nicked your stuff."  
Link gave a snort of laughter. "You don't change, do you? We might be the only people in this world - I won't say 'humans', because that probably only applies to one of us - and you're still the biggest loser around."  
"Takes one to know one," Cal remarked in reply. In the strangeness of their new surroundings, however, the boys' usual inventory of mutual insults ran down early. Link regarded Cal with quiet contempt in his eyes. Despite what he had said earlier, though, his rival had changed. Physically, if not mentally. Everyone had noticed the faintly shadowy colour in Cal's face in recent days. In this strange world, it somehow looked even more obvious than before. _This rate, he's starting to look like that...  
Like Dark Link..._

Link swore as he spotted the sword handle above Cal's shoulder. "You!" he yelled, suddenly enraged, pushing him to the floor. "How could you... I thought you were low, but trying to kill me? It was you, wasn't it? Back at the warehouse?"  
"What the...?" Cal spluttered, shoving Link away. "Tried to kill you? You've just lost whatever mind you had!"  
"Yeah? Okay, then! What were you doing the day before the north of town got wasted? The way I remember it, someone with red eyes and a big black sword was trying to make mincemeat of me. And - oh, look who we have here..."  
Cal backed away. "Look, you moron, it wasn't me. Just try to believe me for once. Your story sounds absolutely crazy. Mine's gonna, too. But, the few days before - you know - I can't remember a thing about them. I've got total amnesia. I just remember waking up - " _In a warehouse. He just said that whoever tried to kill him there... This is crazy... _"And this sword's lying around. Finders keepers."  
"Sure - whatever," Link replied sarcastically. "How am I supposed to believe that?"  
"Fine. Be a pighead if you want. " Cal sighed. "I'm just telling the truth. And, while you're at it, where did you get that sword, then? Can't say I did something I didn't just 'cause I picked one up, when you're waving that around..."  
"Simple. Found it in the attic. At least I didn't 'have amnesia' leading up to it." 

Link silently turned away. Arguing any further would accomplish nothing. Reorganising his backpack and scabbard, he began to walk on. He hadn't gone more than a few steps before he noticed that Cal was following from a distance. "Get lost," he snapped.  
"Already am."  
"Har, har."_ But... for once - I guess he's right. We're both lost. _With a shake of his head, Link kept walking. He could only hope that was the city's towers he could see in the distance. At least, now they had a destination of sorts. 

- 

"I can't afford to try to cross the barrier into that world. It is corrupted beyond hope by darkness - it's dead. In effect, it was destroyed a long time ago. If things are so fragile that there are already entrances forming into it, my presence could be too much. The boundaries of the worlds could collapse from trying to hold back both my powers and that of the Dark King." Oni sighed. "That's probably just what he wants."  
Zelda closed her eyes. "I understand. At least, I think I do." For a second, she stopped and thought. "Um - please don't think I'm sounding pushy, but..."  
"What is it?"  
"Uh - have you got anywhere to stay tonight? No. Stupid question. You must have."  
There was a pause before Oni replied. "That's a generous offer, but I don't know if I can..." 

_No.  
Wait.  
If_ he's_ back... if _he's_ returning...  
I made one of your predecessors a promise a long time ago._

_"I swear that if there is any way I can make up any tiny fraction of the damage I have done, to you and your country... I will serve you as long as I am able, if you will accept me into your service again..."_

_When I made that promise, I had no idea of what I was. Though I had endangered the Hyrule of old with my reckless actions... it was nothing yet.  
Then... Back then... I did not know what I would be forced to do to that beautiful realm.  
Maybe - one day, when this is all over, I'll have to take a trip out to Outset Island.   
I hear they run archaeological cruises from there now. The Hero of Winds would be proud.  
"See the remains of an ancient civilization..."_

"I owe you this..." he whispered. "I owe it to you - to all of you. To the Zelda I knew, and to the pirate princess, and to the eternal sleeper, and to the maiden imprisoned in Turtle Rock..."   
"Huh?" a surprised Zelda started.   
"It's the least I can do. At least until your brother is safely back in this world, and I've got an idea about that. You want me to stay? I'll stay for now. Because if the Dark King is on his way back - you, princess, are going to need all the help you can get."  
Zelda gave him a strange look. "Princess? What do you mean? You were _around_ during the Revolution. There's no such thing as royalty in Hyrule any more..." She shrugged. "Unless you're counting that 'Dark King' of yours. Whatever his name is."  
Oni grimaced. "I know." _  
And there's no way I'm letting Ganon take the throne._

- 

By what seemed to pass for nightfall, they were little closer. Link couldn't escape the fact that he was still hungry, and by this point, feeling fatigued. He sighed and sat down on a fallen log.   
"Just like you to give up."  
"Yeah? Like you're not tired," Link replied sarcastically to Cal's comment. "Oh, wait. That would only apply to humans."  
Cal scowled angrily. Link's remark had hurt more than he was in any mood to admit. "Oh, shut up. Yeah, I'm tired. Only I'm not wimping out like some people here. I thought it might just be a good idea to make some _progress_ before we stopped..." 

"What's it going to matter?" Link snapped. "We're going to have to stop sometime. And we're not going to get back to the city any time soon. Even if we did make it, I don't really fancy the idea of hanging around there in the dark. Have you even _been_ there?"  
Slowly, Cal nodded. "Yeah... but I don't know how I got there. I... passed out at dinner time. Next thing I know, I'm hanging around outside the gates of what looks like a castle, and somehow I've gotten hold of this thing again."  
"_Sure_ you did," Link remarked slyly.  
Cal glared before continuing. "So. I started to try and find where I was, look for landmarks and stuff, you know..."  
"You were lost."  
He pretended to ignore Link. "Couple of freakshow types jump on me, rob me blind, dump me in the countryside - "  
"Where you oh so kindly watch those little imp creeps jump on me. Okay." One thing was running through Link's mind. _Says he 'passed out' today. Says he can't remember the night Dark Link roughed me up. There is something fishy going on. I could never trust him, but now's worse than ever. But he's the only familiar face around. _"Same with me," Link admitted. "Except I didn't pass out. I was - just walking along, things go weird, I wind up in that city. And you guess the rest." 

There was a long moment of silence before either spoke.   
"Okay. We go on a bit further. But first suitable place we find, first place there's a bit of shelter, we stop for today. Sound alright?" Link asked, only half bothered about a reply.  
"Whatever," Cal replied with a shrug. He'd been thinking the same thing, but was in no mood to admit it. "Think we'd better take turns asleep, though. Keeping lookout, you know? That is, assuming you can actually stay alert for five seconds."  
"You didn't care when I was attacked before..."  
"Yeah - but those things were even wimpier than you. I get the feeling there's bigger stuff out here. And I've got no interest in becoming monster food."  
Link sighed. "Same here, I guess."  
_I can't trust him, he thought again. But - do I have any choice?_

- 

Another half-hour's walk brought the boys to a rough patch of wooded land that hardly merited the name 'woods'. A clear looking stream flowed through it. Best of all, from their perspective, there were no other signs of life. It had taken no time whatsoever for each to decide this was the best place to stop without asking the other. 

Somehow, Link didn't quite know how, but he'd found himself the first to go to sleep. He could only hope that, with other business to attend to, Cal wouldn't be interested in doing something like draw on his face. This was far from the most comfortable situation he'd ever been in, both figuratively and literally. Neither of them had any way of starting a fire, and the ground was cold and hard. Link could only curl up tightly, his head pillowed on his backpack and holding his sword close to his chest like a talisman. 

_In this unfamiliar world, the sight of the dream-temple is almost comforting in its familiarity. It is a positive sign in another way.  
"Where are you?" Link yells. "I know you're here somewhere, Oni!"  
"As always," the immortal's voice replies from behind him. "I just wish I knew where you were."  
Link turns round. "I guess you mean when I'm awake. And the answer to that is, you probably know as well as I do."  
"The Dark World. I know."  
"Apart from that, not a clue. Some godforsaken - sorry!" Link goes red. "I mean, some useless bit of wasteland outside what would be Kakariko. I can't really tell how far away we are."  
"Do you think you'll make it to the city by tomorrow?"  
"Possibly to the outskirts. Any luck, anyway. We should make it."  
Oni pauses before responding. "You've said 'we' twice. You have a companion?"  
"Yeah." Link's not in the mood to discuss it, however. "Anyway, what are you thinking?"  
"Once you get into the city, I should be able to get you out of that world. It's going to be a risk, but - " Oni gestures loosely as he speaks - "I don't think we have much of a choice. The closer you are, the easier it'll be to find your physical location. Once I know where you are, I'll open a portal there - you get through it as fast as you can. Understand?"  
Link nods, but to his ears, there's a flaw in the plan. "Can't you come here, instead? Sounds like a lot of work. I mean, wouldn't it be easier to find us from in this world?"  
Oni doesn't have an immediate reply for Link. He turns away briefly. "I'm trusting you to do this," he says, before walking away. _

- 

Slowly, Oni'kara pulled out of his telepathic trance, and shook his head. It took him some time to reaccustom himself to his real surroundings - the dated decor of the old Hunter house. Everything was quiet - the home's owners were asleep. It had been as hard as he'd imagined it would be to explain to Link's mother and grandmother just where he had gone.   
_I wish I could explain this to you, Link... _he thought._ If I could just grab you out of that world, and whoever you're with too, I would have done so already...  
Godforsaken, you said? No. I just can't. It's the one world I can never set foot in.  
Not if I want _this_ world to survive._

- 

As Link slept, Cal sat on a rock and watched the stars through a gap in the clouds. There seemed to be little else to do. Things were just too quiet. _How did I end up here? _he thought. _Stuck in another world with - well, with him. Why me?_

_Because it has to be you, _a voice replied from inside his mind._  
You again... _he thought. The voice had become all too familiar over recent weeks. It seemed too vivid, too real, to be put down to hallucinations. The last time he had heard it was earlier that day. Just before he had passed out, he remembered.  
_You brought me here, didn't you?_

The voice ignored his last remark._ You know what you have to do, shadow-hero. He's so vulnerable now. Just do it - five seconds, and your work is done.   
Shadow-hero? What are you talking about?  
Your true nature,_ the voice continued. _Your reason to exist - to destroy him.  
_Cal got to his feet and started pacing. _Hold up here! Look, I don't like the guy. But I'm not a murderer. I...  
"I am going to kill you, Link Hunter! One day, soon, you are dead meat!" Did you not say those words?  
Yeah. I did. But there's a difference between "wanting to kill someone" and, well - really wanting to take their life. _"Even if he is a loser..." he whispered, "I couldn't do _that_."  
_Stop trying to deny your purpose. You coward._

"Get out of my _head_!" Cal yelled, waking up the dozing Link. "Just get the hell out of there, whoever you are..."  
"Whoa! Where's the fire?" Link asked, surprised. "Would you mind keeping it down?" Cal paid him no attention, however, continuing his argument with an unseen opponent. 

"Leave... me... alone."  
_How can I? I'm you..._  
"I'm me. Shut up... shut up..."  
Link shook his head. "Talking to yourself - you really _are_ crazy, you know that?"  
"You can shut up, too, Hunter... augh!" He stumbled, holding his hands to his head. With a yell, Cal lost consciousness. He started to fall forwards, patterns of shadow snaking across his body, but came round just in time to get his balance back. 

Link could only watch in shock. Slowly, things started to make sense. As he thought, he idly ran a finger along the small scar by his eyebrow that Dark Link's sword had left during their battle.   
_He was telling the truth, after all..._ Link mused. _Cal never tried to kill me. At least, he never knew he was doing so. Dark Link's - inside him? Is that it? And he's trying to get back out at me...  
This is going to be fun..._

-- 


	14. Into the Darkness

**Chapter 13:** **Into the Darkness**

-- 

Two pairs of sharp footsteps paced along the castle's dark stone corridor. One belonged to a man, apparently around forty years old, but with thousands of years of anger burning in his amber eyes. The second belonged to a far younger individual, still just about in their teens. He regarded his older companion - if that was the right word - with fear and respect. 

"So," Ganondorf remarked. "The search for the shadow-hero has been unsuccessful."  
"I am afraid not, master," the younger man responded. "We have searched the whole fortress. If I may be so bold, perhaps he left already?"  
"I gave him no such order!" Ganon snapped. "Still... your loyalty does you credit." The stress on the word 'your' was easy to hear. "All of you." He fell silent, thinking. 

It had been easier than he'd thought to find willing - gullible, maybe - volunteers for his force. Most of them were young and disillusioned with their current lives. It was a simple matter to lure them away with him and into the Dark World.   
And simpler, still, to bend them to his will. The young man now walking by his side was proof of that fact. He, and many more like him, had already forgotten any other way of life than that loyal to the Dark King. At least, if they did remember their pasts, they were no longer important to them. 

So far, things were turning out perfectly. Soon, he would surely have a human fighting force as keen and reliable - if not more so - than his brute army of the past. Human fragility was a small price to pay for his new soldiers' intelligence. It was only a shame that there was no way to get the best of both worlds... yet. Perhaps that would come one day. 

"Send out a search party," Ganondorf ordered. "He must be around here somewhere." He paused briefly, as the other option for Dark Link's disappearance occurred to him.   
_No! He couldn't have..._  
"There is a second option." The words came slowly, as he fought against the idea. "I want you to search for ...a boy of sixteen with blond hair and blue eyes. You will know him when you see him. Bring him back to the castle dungeons."  
"Dead or alive?"  
There was a pause. "Whichever is easiest." 

- 

It was late the next afternoon - if the word could be applied to a world with such a strange and sunless sky - before the two boys made it to the outskirts of the mirror-Kakariko. Both were waiting to hear the other say what they were both thinking. __

_What a dump_. 

Their mood hadn't been improved any by the weather, as a storm had set in earlier. Rain plastered their hair to their faces and was beginning to soak through their clothes, chilling them through. Neither had said a word to the other all day, though, and both preferred it that way. 

At least, Link didn't think Cal had been talking to him. Every so often, he'd hear his rival muttering under his breath. He suspected he knew who he'd been speaking to.  
For once, he was mentally cheering him on. _Yeah, he's a loser, but he's one I can handle. But if I end up facing off with..._

_Well, I should be getting some backup soon, shouldn't I? _he thought_._ Only when, he had no clue. He was all too familiar with the sound and feeling of Oni's mind contacting his own. But as yet it hadn't happened.   
_He is in another world, though. Guess that's a bit of an excuse._

Cal's muttering was becoming louder. 

"Get outta my head."  
_Your head needs something in there._  
"I know who I am. Can't make me change."  
_Would be the only thing that could happen to you to make you more obnoxious... c'mon, you tell that whoever to shut up._

The boys plodded on over potholed and puddled roads. This place could only be called civilised by the standards of the wilderness they had just left. It was hardly an improvement. Link couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. It was obvious from his expression that Cal was none too happy here either - although how much of that was due to the environment and how much due to the voice in his head was hard to tell. Distracted, he was hardly looking where he was going. Cal stumbled and fell. Link let out a snort of laughter, despite the rain, but stopped quickly. Something was wrong. 

Before he hit the floor, Dark Link managed to get his balance back, and turned round. His eyes were glowing brilliantly. Link stared in horror, reaching for his sword.  
"Well. It looks like we meet again, then." 

- 

"What did you just do to Cal?" Link asked, in shock. He'd worked it out - but knowing and seeing were two different things. "The same as what happened before, right?"  
Dark Link shrugged. "You could say that. My master chose this body as a suitable vessel for my mind. I merely took back what was rightfully mine."  
"I can see why he picked Cal's body, then. You're both losers."  
"That, of course, is a subjective opinion. Although - " Dark Link snorted - "I'm almost ashamed to have to put up with such a cowardly part to myself."  
Link caught himself laughing, but stopped himself quickly. 

"Of course,_ I'm _not so weak." He raised his sword.  
Link drew his own, and tried to remember what he'd learnt from sparring with Oni. 

_Keep your guard up. Watch out. The main thing is that he doesn't hit you.   
And don't feel sorry for him. Don't hold back.   
What do I mean? They're both losers! 'Course I'm not going to hold back!_

Link's concentration on the fight was broken. With too many techniques crowding his head, it was hard to know where to turn. And there was always the fact of who lay behind that shadowy mask. 

_Sure he's a jerk. But I can't - I can't kill him!_

His sword slipped. Dark Link took full advantage of the lapse to knock him down and pin his arms. 

"Get the hell off me!" Link spat.  
"Oh - I will," Dark Link said, laughing. "When you're safely in my master's custody. And - I think I'll be taking that..." With his free hand, he reached for Link's sword. 

He yanked it back as if he'd been stung, a look of amazement on his face. "Impossible!"  
"What is?"  
"Never mind!" he yelled. "Winds of fury, take me away!" 

_What does he mean by that? _Link started to wonder. It soon became clear. His world became a haze of violet and red light. 

When he could see again clearly, he was surrounded by stone walls. Dark Link stepped back, leaving Link room to breathe.   
Not as much as he would have hoped, though. A rather familiar piglike creature was standing in front of him. 

"I'll leave you two to get acquainted," Dark Link laughed, and vanished into the shadows. The monster tried to snatch Link's sword off him, but as its fingers closed on the hilt, it pulled away in shock. "What didja do to that thing, boy?"  
"Me? I didn't do anything!" Link shouted back, surprised. _First Dark Link says there's something wrong with it. Now this guy. What's going on?_  
"Ah, screw it. You keep that. Not that it's going to do you much good!" Using every ounce of its brute strength, it hit Link straight across the jawline. He wasn't fast enough to catch on and defend - and in any case, the Moblin had grabbed his sword arm. 

He blacked out. 

- 

"Whaddya have to do that for..." Link murmured, sitting up slowly. 

"Who, me?" a voice replied, half-laughing, but confused. "I didn't do anything... and who are you?"  
He blinked and looked around. An unfamiliar auburn-haired girl was watching him from the corner of the cell, hands wrapped around her knees. Her clothes - a grey school uniform with a red collar, probably from a private school - were creased and untidy. _Glad I don't go to that place_, Link found himself managing to joke. "Uh... hi?" he remarked. "I don't bite, you know."  
"Yeah, but, you do have a great big sword there."  
"Okay, you've got a point," he said, laughing. "Name's Link."  
"That's kinda..."  
"Weird. I know. Blame some sort of random destiny crap." This comment only earned a strange look from the girl. "And you're..."  
"Madeline," she replied, smiling. "Maddi for short."  
"Okay. Maddi. Hi," Link remarked, holding out his hand. "How did you get here, then?"  
Maddi smiled and shook it. "Was walking home from school, storm blew up, I was running like hell and kinda got lost somehow down some alleys. This guy shows up, says he can help me out, I'm too tired and wet to care 'bout anything... follow him, we end up here... next thing, I'm being chucked in this cell because he says 'I'm not suitable' for something." She shrugged, finally running out of things to say. "I get the feeling I'm glad I wasn't suitable for whatever."  
"When was this, then?"  
"'Bout two days ago. Man, I'm bored..." Maddi sighed. "Miss all my family, too..."  
"Think I do already." He paused. "Except maybe dad." 

He sighed, threw his bag on the floor, and slumped against the wall. "So should I just get settled in, then? And do we get any food in here? They'd better have a vegetarian option."  
"Yes on all three counts. Least, I can't recognise any meat in it."  
"Oh, boy." Link put his head in his hands. 

_I am not sitting in here for gods-know-how-long... _he thought._  
Sitting in where?_ a voice replied quietly, distorted, full of mental static. Link's heart leapt. _You're in the city, aren't you?  
Sort of.  
Are you or aren't you? I can feel your mind - do you know how hard that is, when there's nearly two million people in this Kakariko, and I don't know how many in yours...  
I'm kinda stuck in a cell. And it's not even single sex. There's this girl in here with me.   
_Link could imagine Oni smiling from the tone of his mental voice. _I would assume the Hero would know better than to let his feelings distract him.  
Nah, she's not my type. Don't want Lynna getting the wrong idea, though... But, anyway, _you_ haven't had a girlfriend for two thousand years, am I right? _Link caught himself grinning. Maddi looked at him strangely._  
Enough!_ _You've got to get out of there..._  
_Um... how? We're locked in.  
That's no excuse. I'll be waiting for you. _

Link got the feeling that Oni had just switched their connection off. "No excuse. Right."  
"What's what?" Maddi asked.   
Link jumped. "Just thinking out loud," he replied, going a little red. "About how to get out of here."   
"You think there's a way?"   
"There has to be." He toyed with his sword. Maddi shuffled away in alarm. "I'm not sitting in here. And I don't fancy seeing if I'm 'suitable' for whatever it was you mentioned."  
"Are you crazy? Those bars are solid. The stones look just as solid. Are you going to jump a guard?" She shuddered. "You've seen them... demons."  
"Around here, anything's possible." 

- 

It wasn't long before Link had a chance to test just how easy it would be to escape. 

The guard opened the cell door and shoved in the tray of food. It had done this so often that it was getting complacent. This human had been no trouble before. But... maybe - this new boy... 

The one standing there, grinning... 

The Bokoblin realised too late that it was in trouble. Against all logic, it vanished in a haze of purple mist as Link rammed his sword into its gut. He stood slightly shaken for a moment, before his head cleared. "Right," he said. "We're getting out of here."   
Maddi was all too quick to agree. 

They ran down the first corridor, laughing. For a moment, caution was the one thing not on their minds. It was just good to be free again. Soon, though, it became clear that just running was maybe not the best strategy. Neither of them had seen the corridors they were charging down - and to Link's disconcertment - up. It always seemed so easy in the movies. _If we'd seen a few traps of painful doom, maybe that would be a clue that we were going in the right direction..._

Maddi slowed to a halt.  
"It's a dead end."  
"Again. I'm getting sick of these."  
"Have you got any better ideas?"  
"Yeah, let's not go up so many stairs next time?" Link complained, his voice not quite clear whether he was laughing or joking. He looked around the small room they'd hit, and his heart sunk. It looked like they'd managed to climb a tower without quite realising it. _Oh, great. Oh-great-oh-great-oh-man-oh-man. How did we get up here? How did we..._

"Wow... you can see everything from up here!"  
"Does that include a way out?" Link asked, tense. His back was to the outside wall and his eyes were closed. 

"Hey... Hey, Link? What's up?" Maddi asked.  
"I don't want to talk about it."  
"Come on..."  
"I mean it," he snapped back.  
"I'm not going to tell anyone," Maddi remarked in reply. "Promise."  
Link sighed. He had the feeling that if he didn't talk about his problem Maddi would just continue to badger him. In any case, it would distract him from what was happening. 

"Look. It's... it's a long story. It happened when I was a little kid. I was on a hot air balloon ride... the wind picked up, and the guy couldn't keep it stable. I mean, I was only that high - " Link made a gesture at around waist height - "but I can still remember it..."   
His eyes closed as he relived the painful memory. "We were thrown all over the place. The basket was rocking. I nearly got tipped out. In the end, we made a crash landing somewhere in the forest. We were stuck for ages. I broke my arm, twisted a leg... had nightmares for ages." A lump formed in his throat. "Ever since... heights just... totally freak me out. Only time I was in a plane, I went hysterical - can't bear the thought. Can't even go up a skyscraper." He sighed. "This isn't exactly fun."  
"Run that bit you told me about being a hero again?" Maddi said, grinning. Link just glared back, trying his best to ignore the fact that he knew they were a few hundred foot up in the air. It wasn't really working. 

_C'mon, man. You're standing on a solid stone floor. Perfectly secure. There's nothing to worry about._  
_Nothing at all.  
Courage, right? You were told that's what being - you - is about. Put a brave face on it._  
_Okay. I can do this. I can do this. (And I'm not going to wimp out around a girl.)_

"Scared?" a familiar voice asked.   
It was enough to break Link out of his concentration. He had something else to focus on now. Something to distract him from the irrational fear that was gripping him.  
"Hardly," he tried to boast.  
"There's nowhere to run now, Hunter. You know that."  
"Yeah. I know." Link gathered his nerves and looked into Dark Link's eyes. "Except through you."  
"You tried before. And failed."  
"Why do you think I'm going to fail again?"  
"I don't think. I know." 

_Help me... _he thought. All this was bluffing.  
_Can you hear me? Help me!_

The only reply was silence. 

_No. I've got to do this alone._

"Two out of three?" Link remarked, his sword readied. 

This time, he was prepared. No compromises. No holding back. He yelled and ran forwards. 

For a second, Dark Link thought, Link's eyes looked the wrong colour. Far too pale. But there was no time to wonder about this, as he pushed his own attack back in Link's face. 

Silver and black blades collided. Link's technique, amateur, but ruthless. His shadow's, professional, but out of practice. Maddi stood by helpless as the fight raged. Each fighter found himself off balance more than once. Each had the advantage for a second and the disadvantage for a second. It was hard to see who was winning, if indeed either was. 

In the end, though, Link found himself with the upper hand. He didn't quite know how it happened, but with a quick kick he knocked Dark Link to the ground and into a wall. He got up, but it took too long, and Link was pressing his advantage as quickly as he could. 

One blow, and the dark sword skittered across the stone floor. Another, and Link was pinning him against the wall. 

"Grab it!" Link yelled, struggling to both hold Dark Link's arms back and his own sword steady. The adrenalin rush, if that was what it was, that had gotten him this far had died back. It had felt more like something else, but it was hard to put his finger on what it was.   
"Why me? You know what to do with it..."  
"I've got one," Link remarked. He didn't want to go into any more detail about just why he had no interest in the black blade. "You need something to defend yourself with." _Possibly against him_. 

Maddi ran over, and bent down to pick it up. "Sheesh. No-one ever told me these things were so heavy," she said, staggering under the unexpected weight. "What's this thing made of, anyway?"  
"Dark energy, frozen into solid form," Dark Link replied coldly, not wanting to look over at her. The thought of another holding his most prized possession hurt almost as much as the humiliation of capture.  
"I don't get it."  
"I wouldn't have thought you would." 

There was a sensation at his throat that both froze and burnt at the same time. He couldn't see what it was, but it was agony. He hissed between his teeth trying to stand the pain that seemed to be sapping the life out of him. 

"What's up?" Link asked, only half wanting an answer. This was the second time something like that had happened. "I'm holding the sword flat. I'm too nice a guy to hurt you at the moment, even if you did get me chucked in here."  
"You have... no idea..." Dark Link muttered between clenched teeth. His vision was fading and flickering, and his thoughts were skating around his mind. He could vaguely hear a voice in the back of his mind. 

_Get this thing off me...  
Stop this... you're destroying me... again...  
It's all going..._

_It's all..._

_All getting clearer..._

"Hunter, what the hell are you doing?!" Cal yelled. 

Link nearly dropped his sword in shock. It was still the shadowy features of Dark Link that he was looking at. But the accent and voice of the outburst were those of his old rival for certain. 

"You mean you don't know?"  
"There's not a hell of a lot that I do know at the moment! I'm not even sure how I got here!" 

Slowly, Link lowered the sword. Cal rubbed his neck in some relief - and froze as he saw his hand. He swore. "And what's just happened to me?"  
Somewhere inside himself, though, he knew. The past few hours were like remembering a dream - a nightmare - or more like sleepwalking. Everything was blurred and behind a veil.  
_I was... someone else? Something else? Damn, this is weird..._ There was only one thing he could find in any way humourous about the situation. He'd heard everything Link had said about his phobia. That would be worth a few weeks' taunts.  
_Assuming we even get home..._

"What's happened? The same as last time," Link replied coldly.  
"I figured that much."  
"Are you two going to keep arguing?" Maddi asked, from over in the corner.   
Cal turned round, a surprised expression on what could be seen of his face. "What're you doing here?"  
"You _know_ each other?" an equally surprised Link remarked.   
"Yeah. She's my little cousin. Don't see each other that much. The eyes are a family thing," Cal finished grudgingly. Link looked at Maddi, and kicked himself for not noticing. _Hell... he's right. Red. Same as... how his used to be. Must confuse the hell out of the photographer when he develops their family portraits._  
Maddi squinted at Cal's face, trying to make it out under the darkness. The voice matched up, that was certain. It didn't make sense, though... "What's the problem?"  
"That's you? Cal?"  
"Who were you expecting? Your boyfriend?" he remarked, sarcastic as ever. Maddi didn't mind, though, and just laughed. 

"Okay. Is the family reunion over?" a rather annoyed Link snapped.  
Maddi looked over and grinned. Cal glared. "Yeah, Hunter, spoil everything, why don't you?"  
"I'm only thinking that we might want to get out of here before - a - we're discovered, or - b - your alter ego tries to chop me in half again..."  
"I'll try to chop you in half if you keep this up," Cal muttered. "Fine. Let's go."  
"You know the way?"  
"Well, it's obvious you two don't, isn't it? Come on!"   
He ran off. Link and Maddi followed, relief growing by the second. 

_Just get me out of here. Then everything'll be okay again._

- 

They stumbled through the portal, the world swirling into strange colours around them, before reforming into the one that they had already known. To Link, the fresh rain-spattered green of the grass was the most beautiful colour he had ever seen. 

He slowly got up from his hands-on-knees posture and looked up. "Thanks... Oni..." he muttered, his voice trailing off as he looked up even higher.  
He swallowed, as his eyes met those of the Fierce Deity. 

_Was I really... like that? He doesn't look like the guy I know.  
He doesn't even look human. I mean, he's human shape, but... he doesn't feel...  
Hell. He really _is_ a god.  
I can't believe... look, you saw that face in the mirror yourself, idiot. Why're you freaking out now?  
(Probably because I always yell his head off...)_

To his side, he could see Maddi had gone white in the face, and Cal was motionless with apparent fear._ Now, that makes a change..._ he thought. Off in the distance, he noticed Zelda watching. What she was doing there, he didn't know, though if she had come to say hello she was definitely very welcome.  
"Who's this?" Maddi whispered. "That friend you were telling me about?"  
"Yeah..." Link murmured. "He doesn't usually go in for this look, though."  
"But he's..."  
Link swallowed, and muttered a reply. "I know."  
Maddi dropped to her knees in shock, closed her eyes, and started whispering to herself. Link could just about make out what she was saying. It sounded like a prayer. 

Oni, on the other hand, was paying more attention to Cal. "I should have guessed you'd have returned," he remarked.  
"What do you mean? Who are you? Returned? Well, I had to get out of that place, didn't I?" Cal was babbling. This person looked eerily familiar, somehow.  
"Don't lie to me."  
"I'm not lying!" 

"Prove it. Come with me, shadow." Cal found himself powerless to resist Oni's tone of voice, and followed willingly. 

- 

"Get me a very large coffee and a cheese and tomato pizza. Then I'll be in the mood to talk," Link mumbled, sitting down. The adrenalin rush that had gotten him out of the fortress was wearing out.  
Zelda smiled and sat down beside him. "Well, I've got a bottle of cola in my bag. Is that enough?"  
"Nah, you know it just gets me hyper." Link paused. "On second thoughts, could you pass it here?" 

His sister laughed and passed the drink over. "Okay. I sorta know one version of 'what'," she said, "but I've still to find out the 'why' and the 'how'. You still look bad... and who's that girl over there, anyway? And how did - you know, that guy - survive what happened at the warehouse?"  
Link took a long slurp before he could even start to speak. "You know as much about 'why' as I do. As for the rest..." Slowly, he started to recount the events of the last few days, picking up speed as he went. 

"You're telling me that shadow guy's actually..."  
"Yeah. That's exactly what I'm telling you."  
"But, did you see who he was working for? Oni said there's some sort of a Dark King on the loose, or something."  
"He could have told me that _before_ I got sucked into that damn place, couldn't he?" Link snapped, but not as resentfully as he might have in the past. For once, he couldn't stay angry at the immortal. And the fact that Oni was looking like a normal human again helped.   
Link paused. "_What_ 'Dark King'?"  
"Ask him," Zelda remarked.  
"Fine..." Link groaned, getting to his feet. _Hey, over here_! he yelled mentally. _Got a moment?_

_I'm a bit busy here... _the reply came. _Ask me in ten minutes.  
Thought you could sort time out, make it sooner.  
I need my powers at full strength at the moment, thank you. I've... got something to sort out.  
Fine... huh... I just wanted to ask you something...  
About what?  
About this bad guy you told Zel' about.  
_There was a pause before Oni responded._ ...As I said, give me a few minutes. Then I'll explain everything._

It took some time before he reappeared. "There was something you wanted to ask me?" he remarked to Link.  
"Yeah," Link replied. "Zelda says you know who's behind this."  
"I have nothing more than an idea," Oni said, sighing. "But it's almost certain."  
"Then who? She said it was some Dark Somebody."  
"Yes. The Dark King." For a second, Oni looked aside. "My oldest enemy. His name is Ganondorf." 

Link's mind instantly threw up the one place that he knew the name from. He'd spent long enough in contact with someone who called himself just that that it was as familiar as any of his real life friends' names. _But he's not..._  
"What?" Oni snapped. "You already know him?"  
Link gasped, as he realised that Oni had seen his thoughts. "It's not like that!" he half-yelled in shock. "He's a friend! I've known him for two years!"  
"And you didn't tell me?!"  
"You didn't ask! How was I supposed to know that the _nickname_ of someone on the _other side of the planet _would be so critical! And it _is_ just a nickname, too!"  
"Names are important, _Link..._"  
"He picked it out of a history book! He told me himself! His real name's Garry, right..."   
"'Picked it out'? Are you sure he didn't just _remember_ it instead? I know what I'm talking about here!" Oni's eyes flared white with anger.  
"But I _know_ the guy! Look, I'll get in touch with him as soon as I can, I'll show you that he's an okay person, he's _not_ a Dark King or whatever!" 

"We'll just have to see," Oni remarked, in a coolly annoyed tone of voice. He climbed aboard his cycle and left, leaving a rather confused Link behind. 

- 

A/N: 

faints 

Yep. The story's back on! Thought you'd got rid of me, din'tcha? Or thought I'd given up? Nope!  
To any new readers - thanks for tuning in! To the old - thanks for coming back. I could put a million reasons to why I'd vanished for so long, but they'd be more trouble than they're worth. I'll just give three, and hope it's enough. 

1) Writer's block. 

2) College. 

3) Am remaking the Many Faces Trilogy. Am only a chapter or two in, but it's gonna be worth the wait. (She says.) 

Thank you to anyone who's given me any support over this story. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back on track now, though I currently have Plot Issues with the next chapter. If Things happen again, I can only apologise in advance, and I'll try to give warnings if I know there might be a holdup. 

Cheers! 

-H.B. ^_^ 


	15. Reunification

**Chapter 14: Reunification**

_To Lunatic Pandora_: Thanks for reviewing! Hmmm... not a bad guess... but read on, hey?  
_To Maniac Swordbreaker_: Sorry for making you wait! Glad you like it - the plot should be moving forward more shortly. Don't know when the remake is gonna surface - it's in progress, but college is getting in the way.   
Anyway, read on!  
_To Vicc The Blackwolf_: Never read Arxane's stuff, but thanks... and might check yours out later. Glad ya like it.  
_To Sir Miles, for In the End review_: Thanks for the compliments. Hmm, maybe I'll do a sequel someday... 

-- 

_..."Due to unusual circumstances, we are offering you a place at the Three Peaks Academy. You will be   
able to take up your place straight away. Additional information is enclosed..."_

_ what do you make of that, then, link?_

"You lucky nerd, Garry!" Link laughed to himself. Not too loudly, though. He was trying to illicitly check his email for the first time in three days from the back of the school's computer lab. Among the usual array of junk had been hidden a familiar address.   
His happiness for his friend was tempered, though, as he looked at the header and remembered what he had heard too recently. _You're not... no. They don't give foreign scholarships to Dark Kings. Not at any school I've heard of anyway. _The thought made him smile, but not for long. 

He returned to the email. 

_i'll be flying out in two days. quick work, huh? you know how planes are, but should be landing @ KKR abt. five..._

Link quickly worked it out. That was _tonight_. Maybe he could just make it there in time."You do that. Good luck."  
"What's this? Who'd want to write to you?"  
"Shut up..." Link blinked, and looked around. "_Cal_?" For a moment, Link wasn't quite sure if he was seeing right after his experiences over the past few days. But his rival was standing there, sneering, exactly as he used to be. With one difference - the red mirrored shades that he wore. Thinking quickly, and making sure no-one was watching, Link made a lunge for them. Cal veered back, but not quickly enough. He narrowed his eyes.  
Link could still see what they looked like, though. Burning red and pupil-less. Dark Link's eyes. "What happened...?"  
"As if you don't know!" Cal half-spat. "_Your friend_. That... the... On'..." He seemed unable to say the name. "He ripped me apart and stuck me back together. I'm not who I was before. ...I'm neither of them. I'm _both_ of them." He paused. "And I'll have those back, thank you." With that, he stalked off and returned to his own work. 

_Man, I'm confused._ Shaking his head, Link began a reply to the email, although he doubted it would get there in time. When Garry had sent the message, Link had been fighting off imps in another world. _It all just goes to show..._ he thought. 

- 

The skies above the city were cloudy as ever when Link finally left school, heading for the park as always for his usual rendezvous. The earphone of a pocket radio was firmly in place in an attempt to bring some cheer to the day.  
It was a hard proposition when, every step, he was watching out for something out of the ordinary. He didn't think that the effects of the past few days were going to go away so easily. Every movement in the shadows was making him jump, every noise seemed to mean something else than what it should. It was one thing to put on a relaxed face - another to feel it inside. 

One thing was wrong, though, as Link arrived.   
_It's not like him to be late. Come to think of it, is it actually possible for someone who can twist time around to be late?  
Probably nothing.  
(But, hell, Oni, you could've told me...)_

After about ten minutes waiting in the cold, Link gave up. _Not a word. Or a thought. Then again, whenever did he ever bother?..._

_You're not doing anything stupid, are you?_ he yelled mentally. There was no reply. 

- 

_No, I'm not doing anything 'stupid', Link. I'm just doing what Hyrule needs me to do._ Oni climbed off his motorcycle and stared at the sky. He could see a plane dropping through the cloud layer as he did so. It looked like he was going to be on time. While reading Link's mind without his consent went against everything he stood for, it had seemed like the only way to get the information. 

It had paid off. He jumped back aboard and followed the plane. He'd never been to Kakariko airport himself, even if it was the biggest in Hyrule - he'd never had any need to bother with that sort of means of transportation - but he'd never had any reason not to trust his intuition. 

- 

In the plane, a young man craned to see out of the window. Not that there was much to see from where he was sitting. Mostly wing and engine, though as the plane now tipped there was more ground in his view. Beside him, a businessman tapped away at his laptop.   
If only he'd thought to put _his_ in his hand luggage, Garry thought. Then maybe he wouldn't have been so insanely bored the whole journey. Most of the time, there had been nothing to do but sleep. Even if the only time he'd been able to manage that since they'd passed the Hyrulian coastline had resulted in the worst nightmare he'd had in a long time. 

Still, it looked like they were just about there. He watched in nervous excitement. Although nearly everything had been planned, this was still a novel experience. In a way, he was almost feeling homesick already, even before he'd got off the plane. 

As it was, things went smoothly. The landing was a little bumpy, but nothing awful. He found himself swept along by the rest of the passengers, down corridors and through gates. _What if I do something wrong, though? _he kept thinking. 

Waiting, staring at the baggage carousel, he finally managed to breathe again. He'd just have to ring home now, and find his taxi somewhere. It was going to be easy from this point in.   
He sniffed. Something smelt a little odd, though. The people next to him were muttering "Can you hear anything?" but he couldn't make it out at first. There it was, though, in a few seconds. A rumbling noise.   
The luggage hall started to fill with smoke. Alarms rang loudly. Garry coughed as he looked around, worried again, and started to run for the exit. He shoved his way through the crowds. 

_Get me out of here_, he thought. _What's going on? This... this doesn't feel right. _

As he glanced over his shoulder, he saw a wave of light bursting through the far end of the hall. He picked up his pace. He didn't care where he went as long as he got out of there. It seemed like everyone else was thinking the same thing. 

_What the hell is that?_

- 

_Someone let me in! It's freezing out here! _Link thought, stabbing at the doorbell. It was Zelda who answered it. She looked more than a little shell shocked. "You're home early..." she said quietly.  
"I know. 'Class' was cancelled," Link remarked with a quick shake of his head. He followed her into the living room, where the news was playing on the television. He nearly ignored it out of habit, but the voice of the announcer caught his ear. 

_Fire in the airport... strange shockwave phenomena... almost identical to three weeks ago..._

"_Again?!_"  
"But why the airport? What's that got to do with anything? Who'd be there?" Zelda asked. 

A thought as to who flickered through Link's mind, but he dismissed it as impossible. The question remained unanswered as a flicker of movement on screen attracted Link's attention. "Zelda! Just look at the TV! There!" Link's finger stabbed the screen. The helicopter footage was a little out of focus. But it wasn't hard to spot who was running into the complex. "He once _told _me that he doesn't look human on camera! What the hell does he think he's doing?" Leaving his sister staring in shock, he pounded up the stairs to his room.   
An idea had come to him. Under other circumstances, he wouldn't even have considered it. But it seemed to be the right thing to do. He could remember that night all too well. _I've got to help. And I've got to see..._

Link scrabbled wildly under his bed. It had to be here somewhere. _Had_ to be. The damn thing hadn't left his room since he'd moved in there. 

_I know what you are, what _he_ is now. God of destiny. Controller of time.  
All I ask for now is _time_ to do what's right... _

The transformation didn't seem to hurt as much this time. Maybe it was because he knew what to expect. 

_I'm coming! Hold on!_

Link bolted out of the front door, not bothering about concealment. He knew he was going to attract attention like this. But at the moment, he didn't care. People were in trouble, and he knew who to blame. A friend was probably in just as much trouble - and it would be _his_ fault. Every second was going to count. Even now, he was moving far faster than any human had a right to. He could feel his muscles tense to send him into the air - he could well imagine that his powers in this assumed form could include flight, but the part of him that was still Link Hunter was none too willing to do so. 

He only hoped that this would work. 

- 

Oni stared. Appearances were deceptive, he knew. And as far as his eyes were concerned, he was looking at a tall, tanned teenager with spiky red hair. If he closed his eyes, however, he could see something far different - straight into the running boy's soul.   
To compare what he saw there to anything in the physical world would have been a futile task. The closest description that could have been made was to a shining matrix of copper, red and black, of lights flickering in a million dimensions - an incredible if flawed pattern. He knew what it looked like to _his_ eyes, though.   
It was as alike the Dark King's as he remembered it as his own soul was like Link's. A near perfect match. 

"You."  
Running through the chaos, Garry paid very little attention to the shout. It sounded angry.   
_"Ganondorf!"_  
He froze and looked around. It wasn't like his nickname was exactly common. But hardly anyone who knew him online knew what he looked like. And, in any case, who would..._ Link?_ he thought? _Nah... he wouldn't be..._

_"Near enough."_

Oni stepped out of the flames. His eyes were glowing. As he walked forwards, time seemed to slow around them. "Nice try. It nearly worked. I guess that it feels a lot different, being young again? After two thousand years?"  
"What the..." Garry was frozen on the spot. "_What the hell are you talking about?_"  
"You can stop pretending. I know who you are. You might have been able to hide from mortal eyes - who's going to suspect a teenager? But you're not going to hide from me. And a nice try fooling the Hero, too. That way, it'd be all too easy for you to..."  
"Whoa! What the... _Who_ are you?"  
"As if you don't know." He smiled thinly. 

Garry's insides turned to ice._ Ohmygodohmygod. It's real. It's all real. Link wasn't kidding. And he thinks I'm really... hell, I'm in trouble... this is impossible! Maybe I should've called myself something else? But how did he know? Well, he's... he's..._

He didn't have much longer to think, as Oni charged into him and knocked him to the ground. A stabbing pain shot through his arm as he landed awkwardly. 

"Yeowch! Look! I know what you're thinking..." _I think._ "But you've got it all wrong! I'm not really him! It's just a nickname! I just thought it sounded cool, the evil king from some old legend, but if I'd ever thought that it was all as really real as..."  
"And you really expect me to believe that? I can see who you are." Oni's eyes narrowed. "I should have done this a long time ago. I couldn't chase you into the Dark World. But you're _here_ now. In _my_ world. And that means _no holding back_." 

Garry wasn't looking at his face, though. He was looking over Oni's shoulder, at an armoured figure running into the room. _But if this is... then who's that?_ he thought. 

_"Leave him alone!"_ Link yelled, slowing to a standstill. "What are you doing? I saw you on the telly, I thought you were going to help! Not to beat people up!"  
"I'm only doing what you were too blind to see, Link! I've let this go on too long! I wasn't going to let the chance go!" Oni stood up. Garry edged away in confusion.  
"You certainly picked your moment..."  
"And _you_ seem to have, too," Oni stated icily as he looked Link up and down.   
  
"I've got it under control!" Link snapped back. "I just wanted to get here and help! I saw what was happening on the news. And you think I'd have been able to get here in time if I was..."  
"You know what happened last time!"  
"Look! You've got my word. We sort out what's happening here, and I go back."  
They locked eyes. "You'd better," Oni said quietly. "Those powers are not _toys_. You're not supposed to be a superhero."  
"Just the normal sort, right?" 

There was a quiet before anyone spoke again. This time, it was Garry. "...I know I told you when my plane was landing, but I wasn't expecting this sort of a welcome..." His words came out cracked and broken, unsure of themselves. But with all the madness around at that moment, something so crazy and improbable as running into the one person he knew in the city out of two million no longer seemed so unlikely. 

"Welcome?" Oni snapped, and turned on the frightened teenager. "How about a _farewell_, Ganon?"  
"Stop it! I'm not him! I swear!"   
"You were saying I'm blind? You're the one who's being blind here! Are you going to take revenge on someone who's done nothing to you?" Oni opened his mouth to argue back, but Link got in there first. "Look into his mind. Look at what he's feeling. What he's thinking. Does he look evil to you?"  
"I saw his soul. His spirit."  
"And then you _stopped_ seeing anything else! If he's really _your_ Ganondorf, it's my butt that's on the line if I'm wrong!" 

Oni paused a moment to think. _Am I really being that foolish?_  
_It's not my place to make mistakes. Hyrule is the one which suffers when I do.  
But... am I making one now?_

"Fine," he sighed. _I can't believe I'm doing this. _"I'll ... let him be. For now." 

Link walked over to a still stunned Garry and held out his hand. "Sorry you've had to put up with this. But... well... you can see what's happened..."  
Garry got to his feet. "Yeah. ...You weren't kidding when we talked that time, then?" 

Link shook his head, and broke into a grin. "You don't know half of what's been happening around here," he said.  
"I know there's been trouble happening. My folks weren't sure whether I should've come here. But the school's not in the city, so they thought I'd be okay... it's not like we could really pass up the chance. "  
"I think they were just proved wrong." As he spoke, the shockwave burst through the walls of the hall. "The way out's that way. Run like hell. I'll see you later..." Link yelled, running straight towards it. Oni turned, and chased him away. 

Telepathic words resounded in Garry's head as he made his escape. _I'm keeping an eye on you. I know where you are. Link trusts you. I should too. But step out of line and you'll be answering to us both._

- 

It was some time later that the three met up again, on the outskirts of the airport. Link was spinning the mask he had been wearing in his hands. Garry needed to look twice before he worked out what was going on. 

There was quiet for a while as the three started on their way. Link shot a few glances at his immortal counterpart, who eventually spoke up. 

"I owe you an apology."  
Garry looked aside. "Thanks. You didn't need to."  
"I don't understand it, though. If you're - I don't know, some sort of reincarnation of the original Ganondorf - " Link waved his hand vaguely, as if to show just how up in the air his ideas were - "then how can the original still be around?"  
"The same way you are, Link." Oni glanced at his younger counterpart. "The timeline - it's complex. The time around when I was born and the Dark King came to power - it's looped and knotted a million ways. I'm certain that one of those 'loops' contains a time when the first Ganondorf died normally - it would be the same one where I developed my full powers. It might not have affected history as we know it, in amy major way. But it does seem to have one unforeseen consequence." He looked back over at Garry. "I hadn't known anyone else except for Link and myself that this had happened to."  
"Well, as long as I'm off the hook," Garry said, laughing. "This is all...kinda weird, though, isn't it?"  
Link grinned back at him. "If you'd been living my life for the past coupla months, _then_ you'd know the definition of weird." 

There was a pause. "You think this was... my fault, though? Somehow? If I _am..._"  
"Don't blame yourself, man. I think the real thing is probably just trying to cause hell." 

They walked out through the chaos. Ambulance sirens blared and reporters and police still packed the area.   
None of the activity seemed to touch the small group. It all seemed kind of distant. The boys' minds were filled with things that either of them would have ever have thought about before. There was no speculating what Oni was thinking about, though. 

"We need to get in touch with everyone we know that's been involved in this." 

- 

"It is believed that the same organization behind the attacks nearly three weeks ago is behind the events at the airport. Citizens are advised to remain calm... And on related news, people have reported that the 'Phantom Knight', the alleged rescuer of many following three weeks ago, has been seen in the airport vicinity... " 

The television snapped off. Everyone who in any way knew him had been very surprised to find out that Oni'kara was in possession of a television, even a small one. They had been nearly as surprised to find out where he had been staying. 

The flat didn't look like anyone actually lived there, more that they just needed somewhere to call an address. It was virtually undecorated, and whatever furnishings were there had obviously been provided by the landlady. It overlooked one of the city's many temples to various gods, though no-one had as yet asked whether the god in question existed. It didn't seem polite to bring it up.  
Equally, no-one was in the mood to bring up the way in which the flat seemed to contain far more space than the size of the walls suggested it should. This was probably a good thing. There was no way that nine people would have felt comfortable in there if it had. 

As it was, the group gathered round began to talk. The concept of Link being any sort of a hero, ironically, made least sense to his closest friends. But what did make sense to everyone was that they were in trouble. 

"That's what we're up against."  
"That's the sort of power the Dark King's packing."  
"And he's just getting started." Cal folded his arms. "You don't have a chance."  
"Define 'you'?" Maddi remarked. "You said you were on our side on our way here. Even after what happened two days ago."  
"When did I say that? I just said I'm not working for Ganondorf any more." Link and Garry exchanged glances, which went unnoticed. "Doesn't necessarily mean I'm working with Mr. Hero there." 

There was a pause. 

"Okay. So what do we need to _get_ a chance?"  
"You could always pull off that quick change trick..."  
"No. He _can't_ do that. Hyrule wouldn't thank him for it. I wouldn't either. And using that power in such serious combat has... its consequences."  
_Spoilsport. Yeah, I know, but.._. "The rest of... the heroes managed okay, right? I can too." Link thought. "It's a question of what they had that I didn't have."  
"A backbone?"  
"Very funny."  
"Well, there was a lot of magic around then, right? They used that, didn't they?"  
"But there _isn't _a lot around now. That's probably out."  
"A big ass sword?"  
Link laughed, and fidgeted in the bottom of his sports bag to fish out his own. "Well, I've got this."  
Lynna, Mel and Ralph stared. This was the first any of them had seen of it. There were vague whispers of "Cool..."  
"Isn't it illegal to carry something like that around?"  
"I don't know. But I'm not planning on going through any metal detectors with it." 

There was another pause. "Does the phrase 'Master Sword' mean anything to anyone?'" Garry asked.  
Link laughed, as the words struck home. "Yeah...! I'd read something about it when I was looking into everything!" He sighed. "Of course, then I kind of found myself having to move house without packing. I didn't really have time to retrieve my notes." He looked over at Oni. "You know about it, right? I mean, you've used it..."  
Most of the group looked rather confused by this turn of questioning. Oni, however, blinked and replied. "It was lost a thousand years ago. Even I don't know where it is."  
"So where did you last see it, then?" Link let out a breath. "_Lost_ shouldn't matter. They've, we've, been on the lookout for lost treasures all the time. This whole continent was lost at one point. Why didn't you tell me, remind me, I needed this thing?"  
"I..." Oni paused, for once uncertain of how to reply. Link's remark had stung. "I... didn't think you were ready." 

"When's 'ready?' You were about ten, weren't you? I looked it up... And who was it next? He was just a kid too! Don't tell me I'm not ready!" Link pushed back his chair and stood up. "Okay. Maybe it's still early days. But things are getting crazy quickly. If Ganon - the real one - keeps this up, we're not going to _have_ a city soon! And you _know_ it won't stop there! You want to destroy this world to save it, go ahead! I can't stop you! But maybe it would be a better idea to _let me do my job_?" He was hitting his stride now. The others just stared, mostly in incomprehension. "Don't tell me I'm not ready. You said you'd help me. You didn't have to. So _how about helping me now_?" 

Oni looked away. "It was left to rest in what they used to call the Lost Woods. Kakariko Forest Park, I think it is now. But rangers and archaeologists have been through there with a fine toothed comb." 

Zelda peered at him. "But none of those archaeologists was the Hero of... of... what _are_ you Hero of, anyway, Link?" The group started to laugh. "Maybe they just weren't _meant_ to find it."  
Link nodded. "Yeah. And even if it's not there, that seems like the right place to start looking. Anyone with me?" Ralph and Lynna threw in their support first; Mel next, and Garry and Maddi shortly afterwards. With great reluctance, obviously swayed by group pressure and his cousin's kicking his ankle, Cal eventually agreed too. 

"That's settled, then!" Link paused for a second. "There's just one problem. Who's driving?" 

-- 

A/N: Okay, delayed again. But it's an improvement, right? ^^;; And next chapter's already got a large chunk written. So, with any luck, I might be able to haul it back to monthly updates... *crosses fingers* College pending, of course . 

Any volunteers for a beta reader? I'm having to put this one out unbeta-d - when it gets sorted, I'll replace this chapter. Sorry. (Bad H.B.) 

And a quick poll. As I've said, my original trilogy is getting a rewrite. (I'm two chapters in.) But I need a bit of help.   
The second story, 'Guardian of Time', is having a name change. (Blame Sailor Pluto. Damn it. Now I want to write a crossover.) 

Any suggestions? 


End file.
